Rising Tide: Jacob Black
by xxbloodsweattearsxxx
Summary: How I believe Breaking Dawn should have ended. The war with the Cullens did start. No Imprint. A much darker arc for the character Jacob. If you see it updating, I'm not adding new chapters. I'm only proofreading and correcting small plot errors.
1. Chapter 1

** I do not claim any right to the Twilight Series nor am I trying to steal anything of Stephanie Meyer. This Story is simply how I think BD should have ended. The beginning of this story is and excerpt from Stephanie Meyers version of Breaking Dawn**

He pushed her dead heart faster then I had.

"She's not dead," Edward growled. "She's going to be fine."

I wasn't sure he was talking to me anymore.

Turning away, leaving him with his dead, I walked slowly to the door. So slowly. I couldn't make my feet move faster.

This was it, then. The ocean of pain. The other shore so far away across the boiling water that I couldn't imagine it, much less see it.

I felt empty again, now that I'd lost my purpose. Saving Bella had been my fight for so long now. And she wouldn't be saved. She'd willingly sacrificed herself to be torn apart by that monster's young, and so the fight was lost. It was all over.

I shuddered at the sound coming from behind me as I plodded down the stairs―the sound of a dead heart being forced to thud.

I wanted to somehow pour bleach inside my head and let it fry my brain. To burn away the images left from Bella's final minutes. I'd take the brain damage if I could get rid of that―the screaming, the bleeding, the unbearable crunching and snapping as the newborn monster tore her from the inside out...

I wanted to sprint away, to take the stairs ten at a time and race out the door, but my feet were heavy as iron and my body more tired then it had ever been before. I shuffled down the stairs like a crippled old man.

I rested on the bottom step, gathering my strength to get out the door.

Rosalie was on the clean end of the white sofa, her back to me, cooing and murmuring to the blanket-wrapped thing in her arms. She must have heard me pause, but she ignored me, caught up in the moment of stolen motherhood. Maybe she would be happy now, and Bella would never have come to take the creature from her. I wondered if that's what the poisonous blonde had been hoping for all along.

She held something dark in her hands, and there was a greedy sucking sound coming from the tiny murderer she held.

The scent of blood in the air. Human blood. Rosalie was feeding it. Of course it would want blood. What else would you feed that would brutally mutilate its own mother? It might has well have been drinking Bella's blood. Maybe it was.

My strength came back to me as I listened to the sound of the little executioner feeding.

Strength and hate and heat―red heat washing through my head, burning but erasing nothing. The images in my head were fuel, building up the inferno but refusing to be consumed. I felt the tremors rock me from head to toe, and I did not try to stop them.

Rosalie was totally absorbed in the creature. paying no attention to me at all. She wouldn't be quick enough to stop me, distracted as she was.

Sam had been right. The thing was an aberration―it's existence went against nature. A black, soulless demon that had no right to be.

Something that had to be destroyed.

It seemed like the pull had not been leading to the door after all. I could feel it now, encouraging me, tugging me forward. Pushing me to finish this, to cleanse the world of this abomination.

Rosalie would try to kill me when the creature was dead, and I would fight back. I wasn't sure if I would have to time to finish her before the others came to help. Maybe, maybe not. I didn't care much either way.

I didn't care much if the wolves, either set, avenged me or called the Cullens' justice fair. None of that mattered. All I cared about was my own justice. My revenge. The thing that had killed Bella would not live a minute longer.

If Bella'd survived, she would have hated me for this. She would have wanted to kill me personally.

But I didn't care. She didn't care what she had done to me.― letting herself be slaughtered like an animal. Why should I take her feelings into account?

And then there was Edward. He must be too busy now― too far gone in his insane denial, trying to reanimate a corpse―to listen to my plans.

So I wouldn't get the chance to keep my promise to him, unless― and it was not a wager I'd put money on―I managed to win the fight against Rosalie, Jasper and Alice, three on one. But even if I did win, I didn't think I had it in me to kill Edward.

Because I didn't have enough compassion for that. Why should I let him get away from what he'd done? Wouldn't it be more fair―more satisfying―to let him live with nothing, nothing at all?

It made me almost smile, as filled with hate as I was, to imagine it. No Bella. No killer spawn. And also missing as many members of his family as I was able to take down. Of course, he could probably put those back together since I wouldn't be around to burn them. Unlike Bella, who would never be whole again.

I wondered if the creature could be put back together. I doubted it. It was part Bella too― so it must have inherited some of her vulnerability. I could hear that in the tiny, thrumming beat of its heart.

It's heart was beating. Hers wasn't.

Only a second had passed as I made these easy decisions.

The trembling was getting tighter and faster. I coiled myself, preparing to spring at the blond vampire and rip the murderous thing from her arms with my teeth.

Rosalie cooed at the creature again, setting the empty metal bottle-thing aside and lifting the creature in the air to nuzzle her face against its cheek.

Perfect. The new position was perfect for my strike. I leaned forward and felt the heat begin to change me while the pull toward the killer grew―it was stronger than I'd ever felt before, so strong it reminded me of an Alpha's command, like it would crush me if I didn't obey.

This time, I wanted to obey.

The murderer stared past Rosalie's shoulder at me, it's gaze more focused than any newborn creature's gaze should be.

**Stephanie Meyer's end to Book Two of Breaking Dawn Ends here.**

That second was all I needed to feel my lips curl back and bare my teeth. I didn't register the sound of a door opening above me, but the sudden scent that saturated the already repulsive air froze me. My head turned slowly to the source.

Edward.

His crimson lips were stained with blood. I saw trails on either side of his mouth from where Bella's blood had begun to dry. He didn't seem to be out of his delusional stupor...But I could feel that heat that pulled me to the little monster, shift a little to him.

Maybe I was wrong and killing him would have been the best course of action. The way he looked was...relieved. My eyes flared. I felt my vision cloud in a haze of red. His eyes stared down at me with a blank look, then he shifted towards the creature and those golden brown eyes softened.

That did it.

"ROSE!" Edward roared, his eyes on me for the briefest second. " Get her out of here!"

Blondie understood in the same second, whipping past me in a blur for the front door. My eyes followed her like a hawk to mouse. Looking away was a mistake, I heard something make a thudding sound...and then I heard a snap against the wind. Before I knew it, I was crushed into the tile, Edward's palms flat on my throat, cutting off my breathing. I felt like he had numbed me with ice.

"That's enough Jacob!" Edward snarled from above me. He was kneeling down on my stomach. I tried to get up, but he snapped me hard against the tile. I felt my skull crack.

"I'll kill you," My voice came out a hiss. I vice gripped his wrists, letting my nails sink into his stone skin. I wanted to crush him...I wanted him to feel this. And the tightest I could go, made a difference. All the strength I used, pried his hands loose. Half a foot above me was enough time. I released him.

Pulling my arm back against the tile, I punched him across the face. Every single bone in my hand broke. Now I knew what Bella felt like the day of our first kiss. My skin had torn and blood ran freely down. But I didn't care.

He recoiled, but recovered fast, already off of me in his hunter's crouch. I leaped to my feet and felt a feral snarl ripping at my throat. Beyond me, I heard the frantic thudding of a heart, a racing beat. A changing heart.

Relief swept through me. Bella was alive.

And pain stung me. My eyes widened as I looked into Edward's face.

"No!"

He didn't say anything. He kept his wary stare on my eyes. He knew what was coming. His stagger went back a step as Alice and Jasper came to the fray on either side of him. Jasper was on my left. Alice on my right.

Funny. This adrenaline to kill was meant for the baby. And they were all willing to die for it now that Bella was changing into one of them. This was it...

Even amongst all the hateful, burning emotions. I could feel the truth bubbling to the surface. It was over. She had chosen him. My Bella would never come back. Never blush, never love me...even if it wasn't enough.

Fire raged down my spine and had me curving my back forward for a second. Tight spasms ran rampant down my arms and legs. Heat welled up inside me. I threw my paws down on the floor, scratching the tile ferociously. I stretched my back out with one rolling extension and stood form.

Red. That's all my vision had taken. Other then the sharp intake of disgusting vampire stench, these three were my prey...I was looking down on them like they were insects.

Insects that killed Isabella Swan.

I snapped at Jasper first. He didn't recoil, only went back a step, lowered into a hunting crouch. Simultaneously, Edward and Alice did the same. Alice. His mate. I couldn't read their minds, but I knew what was coming. In that split second I knew that a Vampire's mate was his weakness. and Alice was Jasper's.

"ALICE! MOVE BACK!" Edward roared shifting his body towards her in a protective stance

I got on my hind legs and swiped at both of them as hard as I could. She leaned back, but my claw caught her sleeve. That was enough. I ripped her from me. Her heavy body slammed against the wall where I heard something shatter. Edward dodged in time. He was distracted. He was a black and white blur, straight at Alice's side.

But the next thing I knew, something sent a shiver down my fur. I felt something climb on my left shoulder blade. Something cold. Instantly, I dropped down and leaned my head around to bite it. He was smart. His legs locked around my waist where I couldn't reach him. My crimson gaze took him in for the second that counted for everything.

I saw the glint of silver before he plunged it into my stomach and pull upward roughly, twisting whatever blade he held in his hand. I howled in pain, feeling warm blood gush out and wet my fur with its contents. My body writhed automatically, and he didn't bother clutching on. He landed against the stairs on his back where I was no longer able to look on him. I whimpered. The intense pain sent shooting, fiery spasms up my body. This wasn't normal pain, there was something on that damned blade. I felt nothing in my body try to heal me..I was going to die.

JAKE!

Seth called out to me. Far away.

Seth, wait in the forest.

Before I heard his protest, I felt my eyes lock with golden brown. Edward was helping Alice gingerly to her feet. They were prepared for the fight. Ready for it. But I saw something dead in Edward's face.

Hatred seared at me. But my left hind leg was trembling under the weight of the wound that kept burning.

I'd die...and I'd never see her again.

What compelled me to turn around on those parasite faces. I didn't know right then. What I did know was that I launched myself through the closed door, knocking it off its hinges. The jump clearly did nothing good for the wound as I touched down on grass and started running again. Each leap I took sent a new wave of pain down my right hand where the bones were broken, and down my abdomen where my flesh had ripped.

I ignored the pain. The predator in me was quelling. I kept running until I was out of the Cullens territory and still in the forest. The trees were familiar to me, but I was too dazed to tell where I was. I looked behind me and saw spots of blood on the rocks and the trees. At least they knew where I went...but there was no smell. I had no pursuit.

"Ugh," The groan that escaped me was human. Heat flooded out of my body and I felt my legs and arms stretched out. I didn't even stand, I just collapsed against cool rock and felt blood continue to ooze under my boiling skin. I reached down and winched horribly.

The wound was pretty bad.

My skin had been torn open in a long, half foot long deep gash that ran up my stomach to the end of my chest. I felt a few hinges of blood-wet flesh still knitted together, but as I touched the hinges, I noted that it was all too easy to touch inside my stomach. It was that deep. That's why the blood was so thick.

This was a badly done gorey scene from a movie. But it was real.

I groaned and rolled onto my left side. Where I was, there was a massive puddle of fresh blood. I ignored the sight of it and looked down at the wound for myself. Nothing was healing...nothing was calming down. The bones in my hand had already healed nicely, so what was wrong with this stupid thing?

I coughed up something that welled in my throat. Instantly my forehead went against the rock and I felt splats of blood release from my mouth.

"Jesus Christ, Jake,"

The voice had me alert, but I wasn't ready to fight. I looked up to see Leah stop infront of me. She knelt down and turned me over. I felt her warm hands pull me onto her lap where she had her arm under my back, supporting my shoulder.

"S'not...so bad," I mumbled. My voice was hoarse. It cracked.

"Just very bad," said Leah. She placed her hand on the side of my chest where there wasn't a gaping hole. " Let's go back to the rez, we'll get you to the hospital."

"Like ...hell," I replied, trying to get out of her grip. She saw that and tightened her hold on my shoulder. "If anyone's...going back...its you."

"Don't be stupid," Her voice became thick, hard. Was she really going to get bossy with me now?

"You're going to...go back...Leah," It wasn't a command. It was a request. Couldn't she hear that? "You hear me? You're going to take Seth and your going to go back to Sam...You're going to tell him what happened."

"Jake, for God's sake. I'm not leaving you here to die,"

"I'm not going to die here," I assured her. She clucked her tongue impatiently. I swallowed. It was harder to speak. My throat was constricted with the friction of blood that wanted to release. " I'm not...I'm asking you to do something for me... I need you to go to my house, stay human. Get my car keys from Billy... Just tell him I'm coming back, he'll believe anything you say from there...Take the Rabbit...and bring it back here."

Her eyed widened in fear as I looked at the silver glint of her eyes. Fear was in her voice. " What're you planning to do, Jake?"

I considered her for the longest moment. My breathing became ragged and labored. If this really was my last hour, I wanted to cherish it. Bella had no way of cherishing her last moments, because she was in pain...constant pain like I was right now. In this moment, I felt connected to her more then I ever would.

"I'm going to destroy that filthy bloodsucker," She winced, but I ignored it, my voice became stronger with what I was saying. " and everything he loves."

"Jake...You're in no condition to fi-"

Again, I ignored her. " Get Seth to bring me some bandages. I can manage that. Loss of blood is a stupid way to go."

"You're not going to die, we're going to-"

"Leah, please!" My voice cracked again. I felt something sting my eyes. " Please just listen to me! For once in your life, listen to me! I need you! He can hear us right now. He can hear our thoughts. I want him too. I want him to know this pain and this hurt!"

Her eyes narrowed at me, but I saw concern burning inside them. She wouldn't cry for me. No one would cry. The girl who would shed a single tear was unable to now.

She gently set me down against the cool rock again. Automatically my arm curled over the wound. It screamed in protest at the simple weight added to it, but quickly calmed. I looked up at her dark eyes, surveying me with concern again. I mouthed a silent thank you and closed my eyes. The sounds of her running away from me, out of the trees soon faded.

I was alone again...with my thoughts seething...ready...prepared for the internal war that I was about to unleash upon that parasite.


	2. Chapter 2

"What I don't get is...," Leah was seething. Why wasn't I surprised? She flat out refused to let me drive. And as I looked out the passenger side window, I noted that we weren't going anywhere specific. I hadn't really given her a destination. But at the sound of her voice, I started. As though she hadn't been there. " why that damned wound won't close already."

I rolled my eyes at her. " Jeez, didn't they give you the low down on everything when you first phased?"

She growled at me.

"Are you going to give me an answer? Do you know why the wound hasn't closed?"

"No duh...It's bloodsucker venom," I said as though stating the obvious.

She froze. I felt the Rabbit skid to a stop. The tires screeched like a banshee and I narrowed my eyes. Consciously(because wrapping my arm around my torso was becoming a habit now), I covered my wound.

"Hey hey...," I said, raising my free hand. The pitch of my voice made me sound like the Fonz. " Can you cool it on this car? It's my baby."

" They pumped you full of leech venom?!" Leah snarled, looking over at me. Her black eyes flickered down to my hand. She watched the blood seep between my fingers. The white tank top they brought me was utterly useless. And the top part of the jeans too. Blood never came out easy. Oh wait, I didn't have a washer anymore. Or a dryer. Well then, these garments would be my tissue paper, my toilet paper, my crying paper, my-

"Jake!"

"What?! Yes they did, so what? I'm not dead yet!" I snapped back at her.

"Yet," She said pointedly, her eyes straying from my face down to the wound. Her hands twitched off the steering wheel like she wanted to touch it. But I wouldn't let her. I knew the minute it happened that this was parasite poison in my bloodstream. That's the only thing that would prevent the wound from becoming a long scar.

I leaned back to the seat and closed my eyes. I could feel sweat going down my temples, down my cheeks.

"Jake," This time her voice was soft. I didn't open my eyes. We had to wait for Seth. He was the one gathering all the provisions from his house. Most importantly, the cell phone.

"I don't want you to die,"

I exhaled. The breath that escaped was ragged. I opened my eyes and looked straight ahead. We were against the side of the road near Port Angeles. The very late hour made the road abandoned, thank God. But people were probably trying to avoid the dense fog that had covered the roads and forest. I could see through it, of course...if I really tried, but I wasn't trying. I was just waiting for the sign of the little gray wolf.

"I told you I'm not going to die right now,"

"Yeah not this minute. But what if the venom spreads? Look in the mirror, Jake! You are pale as hell!"

"Hell's pale?" I laughed.

"Oh my god, are you joking right now?" She sounded incredulous. I shifted myself lower in the seat and kept my eyes closed contentedly. " Jake, please. Open your eyes. Each time you close your eyes, I think it's the last time."

"What do you want me to do, Leah? Go to to a hospital? Oh that's funny. At my temperature, I'm already dead. "

" I want you to at least worry. I want you to tell me that your not going to die. Not now, not any time," Leah's voice was so soft now that I cringed. She was never soft...in any sense of the word.

And her soft hand found mine on my thigh. I opened my eyes and pulled out of her hand fast.

"What do you care?" I asked. My free hand was now joining my right in holding my wound down. Still wet. I couldn't even feel the blood release anymore.

"You're my Alpha," She said. Though I could sense that wasn't the reason. " I can't bear seeing my Alpha in pain."

" I'm not going to die," I told her. My voice became hard. I released my wound with my left hand and pressed it to my mouth. I lurched forward and felt blood constrict my throat. I coughed it out and laid my forehead against the airbag cover. My mind wondered why I built those things inside. Like an airbag would stop me from busting my head open at my height.

"Any time soon?" Skeptical. Always skeptical.

"No, I don't think so. It's just not going to heal," I assured her. This was my theory. I didn't feel bad anywhere else. But this pain took up everything in me.

There was silence in between us. I heard her shift back to her seat. Which was weird. She must have leaned forward when I coughed up blood, but thought better then to touch me. I would have shaken her off anyway. I welcomed her warmth, but I didn't want to be touched. Tonight sucked.

Correction. Tonight really sucked.

"It's been an hour," I said. I wasn't really sure. I was just sure enough time had passed. I fell back against my seat and wiped my mouth clean with the back of my hand. I looked at her. Her eyes were full of anguish and remorse for me that I disregarded. " Phase. Go get him tell him where we are."

Skeptical again. Her eyebrows raised. " You think you can manage not getting stabbed or attacked by leeches while I'm gone?"

"That's not the worst danger, Leah. What if a ginormous bunny rabbit turns up and offers me chocolate? Don't implant gorey scenes in my head!!" I said with a little laugh that left me wincing and doubling over. She grabbed my shoulder this time and pulled me back to my seat.

"I'm not going to be long," She promised me. " Please be safe."

"Yeah. Just hurry," I told her. She grimaced at me and opened the door. I didn't watch her, but as I looked infront of me, I saw the tail of a shaggy wolf disappear into the fog.

I closed my eyes and settled back into the seat....and my thoughts came crashing back to me.

Bella.

Just her name made me cringe. A sharp spasm shot up my body when I realized that at this moment, she was in much more pain then I was. She was undergoing the worst pain. Pain that would take my Bella away from me. Not that she was mine. Her choices were pretty damn clear. I should have just let her go at marriage. She would have never been mine after that.

He'd ruined her life.

Meeting him was the worst thing that could have happened to her. If I had a machine...I would have gone back in time and never told her what he was. Never broken that damn treaty. It was the only thing I could have done when things actually made sense. She had met him before me. If she didn't know he was a leech from me, she would have gotten it out of him. He probably pursued her. Because he wanted her blood...something I would have never wanted from her.

There'd be the fear of the imprint, but I knew well enough...that as far as I had gone, I'd never imprint. It was always her on my mind. Right now was evidence of that.

And I still loved her. Even now that she was going to be one of them. I still wanted Bella.

I dabbed my wet eyes with the collar of my shirt while fresh ones came. The bending of my body brought another fiery burst of pain in my stomach. I didn't know if the tears were from my thoughts or the pain anymore. I just knew...

She was my enemy...and the war was inevitable.

Bella.

It was never enough.

I was never enough.

I looked up at the ceiling of my car and absently messed with the holes on the top. Imperfect. This car was imperfect. Like I was.

I don't know how long I was alone like this. But eventually my ears took in the pitter pat of 8 legs hitting the cement outside. When they got close, the sound changed to only four legs. And those four legs were running. I rolled down my window as Seth was pulling on pants and wrapping a jacket around himself.

"What?" I asked, looking at his face. He looked...pale?

He lowered so that he could see my face. His eyes flickered to the wound and he cringed. It wasn't something he was used too, me, hurt. I clicked my tongue impatiently at his dawdling. I saw Leah phase back at the other side of the car, grabbing some of the too loose clothes that she had grabbed out of my closet.

"Jake," His voice sounded pained.

"Ugh," I groaned, grabbing the door handle and opening it. He jumped back. " What? You got the phone?"

"No need...They're coming," His voice froze me, and I knew it froze him too. I climbed out of the car and faced him.

"Which ones?" My voice came out frantic as I searched his face. " How many? Where are they coming from?"

"Emmett and Jasper," Seth told me. "Their bringing Edward so they know if we move. They said they just want to talk...to you."

" Their going to negotiate," I comprehended. " No negotiation."

Seth frowned. " That's what I told them you'd say. But they wanted to talk anyway. They said just you."

He sounded pained when he said it. Leah growled as she came from behind me. She was wearing my gray t-shirt and very loose jeans that were belted around her waist with a long shoelace.

"Your going without us?" She asked me. The defiance in her voice was clear. She wasn't letting me go anywhere without her. What was the point of asking, I wondered.

"Yes...I'm going without you. If that's their term," I told her.

"JAKE-!" Both Clearwaters began at the same time.

"HEY!" I shouted, louder then the sound of my name. They both flinched. "I'm going alone! That's their term! You two are going back to La Push."

"Jake this is a pack-"

"We are NOT leaving you-"

"This is an order," I said as fierce as I could. " If something happens, you two are joining Sam's pack, and that. is. that."

"Since when do you give Commands?" Leah snapped.

"If they brought Emmett, this isn't a negotiation, Jake. You can't fight off three vampires...even without your...wound," Seth told me with a furtive glance down at it.

" This is a declaration. They need to know that their at war... They turned a human and violated the treaty. Their isn't anything stopping a war now," Leah said. " But I think their going to fight. You're not going to walk away alive, Jake."

"...We don't have time to discuss this. I honor their term. You two pull back...Please," I pleaded, touching my forehead, which was hot and wet with sweat again.

" Your going to die! Don't you see that?! You'll die, Jake! And for what?! For what?! That girl?! They turned her, Jake! You'll die and she'll be one of them! You'll never have her! Just let us come with you and back you up!" Leah screamed at me. " You need us!"

Her words brought a fresh wave of pain. If I wasn't bleeding out a waterfall, I'd make her take them back. But I just thought them too...so it was true. I dropped my hand and covered my stomach. "Go home."

Her lower lip quivered and she looked set. " No."

"NOW!" I roared. But even the menace was gone from my voice halfway through my scream. I cringed and bent over, panting, seizing the hood of my car to keep me from collapsing, while my other hand pulled in the fresh torrent of blood. Seth was at my side, supporting my shoulder.

Just then, I heard the revving of an engine and my hand slid to my temple as I looked to see who was infront of us.

The silver S60R Volvo.

It had stopped just a few meters infront of us, lights on. I saw three figures in the tint of the windshield. Edward was driving...Emmett on his other side and Jasper in the back. My eyes flickered from one to other and then strayed back to Edward.

Parasite.

I didn't take my eyes off him. I stepped away from my car and walked around Leah but she caught me around the waist and I winced from the pain of the added weight.

" Please," She begged. " Please don't."

"Go home. Seth, give me your jacket," He came from behind me and I pulled my arms back so he could push up the sleeves of the leather. I wrapped it around me so that it covered most of the blood splatter on my waist.

"Go," I said. I didn't look at them then, but as I began walking, I glanced back once to see Leah take in my order. Now it was an Alpha command. She couldn't disobey. I watched her face change into the shadow of the wolf before she and Seth both phased and began their sprint away in the opposite direction while I glared back in the direction of the Volvo.

Fate had a sick sense of humor.

Let's get this over with, higher power.


	3. Chapter 3

I wondered. If I ran over Cullen now, would he piece himself back together? I remembered some some stupid sci fi movie where the bad guy got back together after they froze him and left him to break apart. He got all liquidy from the heat and got back together in a real gruesome way.

Now that Seth and Leah were gone, I retreated back a few steps and sat down on the hood of my car. I wouldn't cringe in front of them. I wouldn't want them to see me lurch and vomit blood. Although...they'd probably smell all the blood through the jacket. Just in case, I zipped it up. I wanted a fight, not thirsty leeches.

Through the fog, the three figures emerged. I took a deep breath and felt the night air saturate my nose before the bloodsucker scent could touch me. I'd have to refrain from breathing until I was spoken too.

Edward was in the middle and when he walked to me, he was ahead of Emmett and Jasper. Emmett was smiling, ready to pounce. Good, he was ready to fight, like me. Jasper just watched me. I could feel something cold numb my anger, calming me...There was no reason to be so hostile looking. I didn't need to bear my teeth and look more wolf then boy. I didn't need to ball my fists up and try to refrain from phasing.

BLOODSUCKER.

"Call him off!" I snapped at Edward. "Now!"

"Jasper," said Edward instantly. He didn't take his eyes off me, but his face twitched in Jasper's direction. Instantly, my rage returned to me like burning red heat. I remembered why I was here.

"We're not here to fight," Edward assured me. His voice was calm.

Dull human ears wouldn't hear Emmett's scoff, but I did.

"The treaty is broken, bloodsuckers," I spat back. He knew it. That's why he was nodding solemnly. So regretful.

"And there is no geographical boundary. If you run, we will follow. Don't act like you didn't see this coming, Cullen. It doesn't matter if she bled for it, which is exactly what she did."

"It doesn't have to be this way, Jacob. I know how you feel," Edward began.

Liar.

He ignored that. " We can negotiate. The last thing I'd want to see is Bella suffering if either of us got hurt."

Smart choice of words. He brought three and I was demanded to be alone. Obviously he meant, Bella would suffer if I got hurt.

"You know that's not what I meant," Edward shook his head. I know what you meant, shut up.

"Bella stopped giving a damn about my feelings," I reminded him. " A long time ago. Why should I care what happens now?"

"Ah," Edward answered, comprehension flickering on his face. " Are you saying that you don't care about Bella anymore? Now that she is one of your enemies?"

I flinched.

"That'd be a lie, wouldn't it, Jacob Black?" Edward whispered. I read his face and saw nothing but calm. His eyes flickered to the general direction of my wound.

Despite myself, I realized what a low blow he was using on me. Maybe because he knew nothing else but Bella would work to stop me now. I smiled at him and cocked my head to the side. " Bella will never be my enemy."

He read my thoughts and smiled back at me. " Oh...so your going to kill the rest of us..." Emmett twitched and Edward glanced at him for the smallest second before boring into my eyes. " but try to save Bella. The reason this war is beginning, Jacob, is because of Bella, isn't it? It's redundant to try to protect her, if that's what your going to fight us for."

I thought he knew this. My mind raced to Bella's final moments. Edward's eyes narrowed. The screaming as she pleaded with Blondie and Edward to get her killer spawn out. Edward didn't wince like the last time I had portrayed Bella in pain. It didn't really matter to him, if in the past, Bella was in pain. Because she was one of him now. She wouldn't look back and hurt over the past. So what did it matter?

These thoughts meant something, but he didn't reply out loud to them.

Let me narrow it down for him.

You, Edward. I want you. I want you to suffer. You already destroyed Bella's existence. Keep that on your conscience. But when I kill your spawn, remember that too. That I took everything I could, from you.

That got him. He snarled. The other two mimicked his sound. They knew I had thought wrong. The mood changer probably felt the hostility of my thoughts. They were ready, so was I. I'd die. But that didn't matter.

"If you kill me, you might be lucky that Sam gets soft and forgets. From what I know in the past hour, he thinks I've completely lost it by trying to kill you all."

"You're weakened," The one named Jasper said. He'd know. " There is no point in a fight right now. I prefer stronger prey."

"There is no healing," I spat out loud so that all three knew. " Bloodsucker venom is poison to my body. If we're going to do this any time, we might as well do it now, because tomorrow won't make a difference."

"No," This time, Edward spoke. And he even took a step back.

"Coward. If this is out of concern for Bella, then you're a bigger fool then I imagined. Bella has nothing to do with this anymore,"

He clenched his teeth together. "She has everything to do with this."

"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here,"

He'd ruined her life.

"If I did that, then so did you," He answered me. "You let her suffer. We've both caused her pain."

"And you left to do what? Fight a war? Go with another woman? You could have been dead and she would have moved on. Don't you understand, that everything about you brought her to her doom? If she never met you, she'd be with me...and she'd be happy. She wouldn't have had a hole in her chest...she'd be whole...happy. You had no reason not to stay and protect her!"

He didn't say anything, I could tell my words stung though. The deadened face that I had grown used to these past few days had returned for a moment. I stepped off the hood and closed the distance between us. Jasper and Emmett gave identical hisses and advanced around me. Emmett was behind me and Jasper was on my right. If he was lucky, he could make a bigger hole on my other side.

My eyes were on Edward's. The more seconds passed, the less time he had to see Bella suffer in the fire that would change her. I was doing him a favor. He smiled.

"You mock my pain," My voice was constricted with malice and I knew I sounded like him, without even trying...I never threatened him with so much truth. " You made damn sure she didn't follow you when you left. Know this, Cullen. My heart died in that room with her. And right now, the only reason it beats is because your still here."

"You hurt worse than that hole I infected you with?" Jasper asked quietly.

"Not really....Consider yourself warned, Cullens. Treaty over,"

Emmett growled his approval of my words. He probably wanted me dead worse then Jasper. Actually, I didn't know which one of these parasites wanted me dead the most. Emmett was probably pissed off that I was considering ripping Rosalie's little joy out of her arms. Anything to make the Vampire mate happy.

You know, my next words....I didn't really think about saying them. Because of my lack of thought, I supposed the bloodsucker knew it was true...and that I wasn't lying.

"Wonder the next time your daughter walks out of your home if it's her last day...Wonder if its Jacob Black's day," I whispered. There was no mistaking the venom in my tone. I staggered away from Edward and smiled. His eyes were wide, deranged. I saw a flicker of red pass through his black pupils.

His hands were balled into fists as he watched me twirl to the driver side of the car. I opened the door, and looked at the three vampires one last time. I raised my left arm to let my hand form a mocking salute. My jacket opened and a perfectly timed gust of wind blew the scent of my blood to their noses as my jacket exposed the hideous hole in my side.

I settled into the car and looked up through the foggy windshield. All three vampires were gone. They were back inside the Volvo where the lights from it blinded me for a moment. I heard the engine rumble before it drove off into the dense fog into the opposite direction.

As soon as they were gone, my right hand tightened around the steering wheel. I pressed my forehead against it and coughed up what was desperately trying to come out my mouth that whole time. Blood dripped from my lips onto my lap. But I didn't move. The coughing made my temples spasm and forced pain in my head.

Throbbing headache. I groaned and tried to massage my forehead with both hands. No dice.

Eventually, I was able to look back up and turn the key in the ignition. The lights flared and I saw what was in front of me.

His Volvo was immobile for a fraction of a second, where logic clicked in my head.

I growled.

"Shit," My body curved as I looked behind me over the seat to see if there was any pursuit behind me while going reverse.

I took too long. His hood slammed against mine and then he backed up, like a bull preparing to charge again.

"Damn you, you stupid marble tick! I built this thing!" I hissed. The small space was enough for me. I whipped the Rabbit around and was off. He was on my tail, keeping up with me. I checked the rear-view and noticed he was alone. He must have ordered the other two off. Good, he needed to be alone.

He slammed into my rear and I was thrown forward, my forehead slamming against the wheel infront of me. I didn't take in the fresh torrent of blood that ripped from my mouth and stained the dashboard.

Through the fog and blood on the windshield, I saw him in the rear view again. He was gone. Instinct flooded me to look to my right, but I didn't want too. I sped up and he kept up to me easily. My peripheral vision took in his silver car steadily drawing closer to me. With an odd screeching sound that had me cringing, our cars skidded across the road, side by side, centimeters apart. Damn him. I looked over and saw him glaring down at me like a hawk to a mouse. The passenger window was down.

I licked my teeth and felt the sour taste of blood on my tongue. " All right, Cullen. Is that how you wanna play it?! Is that how you want to end this?!"

I pulled to my right just a bit before slamming against his Volvo, and sending him off the lane by a few feet. He wasn't pinning me anymore.

I crushed the gas pedal with my foot and watched the meter spike up to 250 on the other side. 250 wasn't the limit on this thing either. 300 was. If I was going to die here, I'd go faster then I could run in my wolf form. Hell yes. The forest became a blur of black against the midnight blue above. I heard the low hum of his engine behind me. Already recovered, back in the game.

He was super man. So was I. But no matter how hard his skin was. No matter how fast he was, he couldn't stop that car he was driving in time.

We were in a town now. Forks? La Push? I didn't know or care. Leech on my territory? Who cared? He already broke the treaty. I was still flying ahead of him, but he was still on my rear view. I just hoped he couldn't hear my idea. I drowned it out quickly with other ideas, keeping my primary one in the back. Maybe I could drive off the edge of the road and he'd follow. Maybe I could pull in somewhere unexpectedly and he'd just crash into a tree or something.

Lights zoomed past me.

Make a decision!

Without thinking, I did it. My hard-gripped hand twirled the steering wheel to the right around and the Rabbit swerved in a perfect horizontal park. I flickered one glance to the passenger window before I saw the brief glimpse of silver and then the Volvo's head lights were all I could see.

And I was flipping. Was I screaming? My head slammed repeatedly against the ceiling of my car each time the roof outside collided with concrete. My skull cracked again and again, but had no time to heal.

So instead I felt my scalp tear a new one with each fresh slam against the roof. I felt my neck shatter under each collision. You'd think after ten, it'd stop.

I counted to fourteen, and only then did the rabbit skid to a stop, where else but on its roof.

I was mashed against it bleeding a massive puddle underneath my hair. I felt the nerves in my neck replace themselves and enable movement.

I reached over to the door handle and opened what was left of my battered door. Since my legs were over my face, it was difficult to face the prospect of getting out. Instead I shifted my gaze to the smashed rearview mirror and saw a black monster covered in red facing me. He blinked when I blinked. But all the blood he had covering him was over wounds that were starting to scar and turn into nothing soon enough.

I smelled fire...and burning rubber.

I shifted the leg closest to the open door and stuck it out, tasting fresh air on the ripped skin of my ankle. My neck shifted to my opposite side where I saw the Volvo, also flipped, totaled. I was expecting it to spiral in the air and have that be my only worry. I underestimated the Volvo's momentum and strength. It had flipped over my Rabbit vertically and stayed where it was, while I got the worst of the flips.

I shifted in my seat. The movement sent searing pain down my stomach where the wound was. The pain was ten times worse then it was before. I sneaked a glance down at it and saw that there wasn't a gash anymore.

There was a hole. And it looked like it would have if a bear had stuck his nails inside my stomach and clawed me thrice. This is what it would look like, before I would get ripped in half.

Why wasn't I just dead?

Fate had a sick sense of humor.

Despite the screaming protest in my stomach, I managed to get my other foot on the ground with the other. Now it was easy. I just slid out on my back. At least my prominent wound didn't spasm.

I felt rugged concrete underneath me. We were outside a shopping center. I could see the lights of Newton's Olympic Outfitters as the late night crowd gathered around our two cars, gawking at us. They saw me, and I heard groans of disgust at probably the sight of my mangled, moving body.

I probably looked like night of the living dead.

Grabbing the open door, I started slowly getting to my feet. Bending over to a sitting position was a pain. I felt a fresh dose of pain spill out of me. I grabbed the edge of the Rabbit's underside, lifting my weight up, and there, I vomited a fountain of blood. Keeping my forehead against my beloved car, I watched the flames spread from the back tires to the front. I wasn't covered in gasoline, I hadn't been in the car long enough. But even so, what a terrible death.

"Hey man, I called the paramedics...are you okay?" Why did the sound of his voice sound horrible against the ringing in my ears. It felt like he was yelling at me.

I clapped my hands to my ears and closed my eyes for a second.

Comprehension washed over me.

He asked a stupid question.

"I'm not okay," I heard myself say. " Get the hell away from me."

"Look man, that was some stunt you pulled," This idiot was impressed. I didn't want to look at him.

"Leave us," A harsher cold voice said. I recognized that. I stepped away from the car and in the act of turning, I felt freezing hands seize my jacket and my tank top.

Edward didn't have a scratch on him. His clothes had been ripped and dirt was all over that white face, but he was completely unharmed. His face was livid...furious. I could hear the snarls ripping inside of his chest.

I smiled. Did nothing to help me.

He spun around and released me. I skidded across the gravel, further away from my car and rolled onto my back.

"Hey buddy, calm down," I heard the impressed man from before say.

"Get out of here," Edward growled menacingly. Though he sounded closer to me. I wasn't going to open my eyes...the blackness was too comforting.

"Ed, was that punk on your daughter that heart-wrenching?" I laughed. Blood shot out of my mouth and landed on my jaw. " I should piss you off more often. That was pretty fun."

"Jacob Black seems to have enough composure to insist on having the last word," Edward blanched. He was much closer now, a foot away. He knelt down, and I felt his stench saturate my nostrils painfully.

Kind of stupid. Amidst this crisis, what my mind went to.

I had grown so used to this smell these last few weeks. Smelling him reminded me of Bella. And my last days with her.

He reached down and grabbed my shirt. Didn't like those thoughts, did he? He pulled me towards him.

"You will never harm Renesmee. Direct your anger to me, Black. For you won't hurt Bella...nor will you hurt our daughter."

I opened my eyes. Against the lights from the shopping, he looked like a freaky yellow eyed demon from Hell.

"Do you understand me?"

"No," I snarled.

His hand closed around my throat. Automatically I reached up and sunk my nails in his skin again. I pried him loose and held him away while struggling to sit up. Blood sloshed inside my stomach at my movement. The wound was so open now, that I could hear my organs. How disgusting.

If I were to die. I'd take Edward Cullen with me. Or at least try to.

"If we were to leave this world, Jacob Black, you know what Bella would do."

Follow suit.

"You know that."

Yes...I knew that. Yet again, he was using Bella against me. Yet again, he wanted me to think of her. Did he think bringing Bella up would save him from his much deserved fate?

"Much deserved yes," Edward agreed. He dropped his hand and relaxed it. I felt mine drop to my side as I looked in his face. His expression was calm again, hard to discern. " But I bring Bella up, because I know that you're mind is quickly becoming more predator then man now. You're like a rising tide in the beach that I will inevitably have to face. Your face is my torment and my pain...a reminder of what I once left behind. There's nothing stopping you, Jacob. Pretty soon you will lose yourself. I fear the only way to save you now...is...Bella."

"And you took that from me," I said without hesitation, though my voice broke and my eyelids prickled. " You took her from me...She loved me."

He had no reply to this. He looked ready to speak, but his eyes snapped up, looking ahead of me. I didn't follow his gaze, I wanted an answer, but he abruptly stood up and didn't give me another look.

"You were right," He said without looking at me, continuing to look into the fog. " We're at war now. Everything will come full circle. Just know that I really do hope, before the end..."

I didn't hear his last words. When I blinked and opened my eyes again, he was gone.

I looked around, but he wasn't there.

My eyes flickered to where he had been looking...and that's when I saw it.

The Pack. Sam in the front. He was the fastest. Largest. When he got to me, he pressed his nose under my waist and gently wrested his way under my chest. He blinked as my body passed his head and neck, coming to a rest on his back where I was held awkwardly on my back, my legs and arms on either side of his waist. I must have looked dead.

The few witnesses could have written this off as a hallucination of drunken stupor. I didn't care. Bad car crash and wolves getting tame. I caught a fleeting glance of Jared's brown fur passing me by on its way to the remains of the Rabbit with the silver fur of Paul helping him clean up the gorey scene.


	4. Chapter 4

Disorientation sucked. But at least the bed I was on was soft.

I could barely see the two figures at the foot of my bed speaking in low voices. Somewhere above me, some big, bright light was shining on my face. I didn't want to open my eyes and have my eyes burn out of my sockets cause of it.

Eventually I could hear what was being spoken....or at least it became something more then hisses and grunts.

"...surprised he still has a heart beat going...how long do you think it's gunna last?" This voice was pretty high..yet familiar, light. I could tell there was some forced casualness behind it.

"I'm not sure," A deep voice. There was a permanent edge to this voice that I registered immediately. Paul never sounded so bitter, so...angry. Wherever I was, I'd bet anything that Rachel sent him here.

"Mom said the wound won't close no matter what we do. It's cold when you touch it,"

"It's vampire venom, Seth,...It's supposed to be cold," Paul replied in a bored voice. "There isn't enough to poison his bloodstream and infect his heart...but at his current state of mind..."

"He can't really do anything if we keep him sedated. He's so pumped full of morphine and hydrocodon, I doubt he could stand up for the next two centuries," Seth joked with a shaky laugh.

"Pain killers will numb pain....but in case you haven't noticed, he's vomiting blood. Even in his sleep. Sam's not going to like this update. He was thinkin' the kid was in better shape." Paul said. I heard him sigh in a tired sort of way. "At least he's bandaged up though."

I twitched my fingers involuntarily. Seth and Paul stopped talking at once. I heard footsteps draw closer to my...bed? Gurney, probably. I opened my eyes, and as per the expectation, my eyes burned and I blinked, seeing splats of red blind my closed eyelids. I reached up and covered my forehead, which covered my eyes too.

"You're an idiot, Jake," Paul muttered.

" I love you too, sweetheart," I said in dry voice, rubbing my temples. My throat was hoarse.

"Really man," Paul insisted. " What were you thinking, flipping your car? You could have died...you probably should be dead."

" Ugh, I'm already dead," I answered in a groan. I opened my eyes and squinted against the light. Seth approached and handed me a glass of water. I grabbed two handfuls of the sheets to propel myself onto the pillows. I winced at the sharp pain in my stomach but took the glass of H2O and downed it.

It brought clarity as to where I was. It was a small room, empty of anything except red-paint plastered walls that looked like it was blood stained. Some place abandoned...This room must have held the only life in the entire building.

It was better that way. At least I wasn't hovered over. Or at least I wasn't conscious for that.

Paul gritted his teeth together as I set the glass down on the desk that was placed next to gurney. I smiled at him, embellishing a bit by placing my fingers interlocked behind my head and leaning against the pillows.

"What happened to you, Jake?" I knew by the tone of his voice, he wasn't asking about my injuries. " You were obsessed over what couldn't be yours one day, and now....hah...you're just insane."

My eyes narrowed, and my temper, so close to the surface nowadays, was at boiling point. I could feel heat rush up my face and knew I didn't look very pleasant on the outside. " Go back to Sam, Paul. Lie to him. Lie to your family, my family. Tell them it's all okay."

He matched my anger quick. Good idea, smart one. Get pissed off at your injured brother. " I'm not going to lie. Why bother? You got all suicidal. Why should Sam and Billy be kept from that? Sam knew it from the beginning anyway."

"Then go," I snapped. " I don't need you here. I don't need your false concern."

"You don't think I care? Yeah, Jake...I love seeing you ready to die," Paul growled, glancing down at my stomach. I followed his gaze expecting a haze of red to cover my waist. But when I looked down, I just saw thick, tight, white bandages wrapped around my abdomen. At least I wouldn't bleed so freely. " If it wasn't for Sam, you'd be-"

"Dead. I know...but I didn't ask for your presence there, did I?" I replied. It was stupid to sound so hostile. That previous statement was all the care I was going to get out of Paul. But I found it easier to not care. If I released my ties, I wouldn't feel so much pain.

He stared at me for the longest time before stepping back and shaking his head. " Jacob Black...wanting to die."

"I told you before..."

"She wasn't worth it, Jake. She's upgraded from Leech Lover to Leech herself. And you're still hung up on her,"

I took grim satisfaction at these words and closed my eyes against my locked fingers. "You wouldn't know that anymore, now would you?"

He snarled, but Seth claimed his wrist.

" He's missed a lot. Go on back to Sam if you want, I can take care of him."

Paul looked ready to pounce, but his eyes flickered from Seth to me, to my wound and he calmed down instantly. I watched his expression turn down into the lines of misery. He wrenched out of Seth's grip and began a stride towards the door, pausing only at the frame to look back at me.

"Make a conscious effort to stay alive, Jake,"

And he was gone. I looked at Seth, who was staring at my bandages until he felt the power of my gaze.

"How long was I out?" I asked, after a minute of searching his eyes.

He cleared his throat. " Six days."

"Damn. That's a while, huh?" I tried to sit up some more, but my stomach screamed in protest. Really. This was getting old.

Seth firmly took my shoulder and pushed me back to the pillows. " Just try to take it easy, Jake."

"Why?" I asked.

"You're Dad's coming," That really wasn't an answer.

"So?"

"So's my Mom," Seth continued as if I hadn't asked my question. "She's been worried about you."

I sighed, exasperated. "What's the big deal?"

Seth shook his head...it was pained. He didn't seem to be able to answer me. I stared at him for a long time. I was about to get impatient with him, but suddenly, I heard wheels rolling against metal outside and my eyes flashed towards the door way.

My heart sank.

If I didn't recognize Billy's face, I thought it would be some old man in a wheelchair. The wrinkles had creased his entire face and he suddenly looked sixty years old...his hair had grayed in several places, where only patches of black were. His eyes were tightly closed, or at least it looked that way. As Sue rolled him in, I could see his face stretch in a smile as he faced my direction.

I did this...I caused him this much pain...and worry.

"Jacob," His voice was hoarse. Sue rolled him to Seth's side and he gingerly took my hand in both of his. "How are you feeling?"

If it was anyone else, I'd tell them to bug off me and stop making a big deal out of nothing. But my eyes filled with pain as I looked in my Father's aged black eyes.

"Better," I managed to choke out. "I've...been better."

He tightened his grip on my hand so hard, that I felt him tremble. But then he released me as Sue came hovering over my head and pressing a hot hand to my forehead.

"We'll keep the bandages on for a little bit," She told me in a tender voice, smoothing out my hair. As she did, I noticed a shiver ran down my spine. I could feel her warmth on the back of my head a little bit more. I reached back with my left hand and felt little black hairs leading up to the buzz cut above. Only at the forehead, did it spike up.

"Your hair was kind of full of blood and stank...Sue just thought we'd cut it while you were asleep," Billy told me, answering my unasked question.

"Did you shave my legs while you were at it?" I snapped, rolling my eyes. Billy's mouth twitched, but he didn't smile, only watched me while Sue unnecessarily fluffed the pillow behind me.

"I'm not staying here," I suddenly told them. Three pairs of eyes turned to glower at me.

"Jake, your in no condition to be walking," Seth told me in a sharp voice. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"I wasn't talking about walking. I'm going to phase and-and..." I broke off as all three of them had backed away as if I had suddenly turned into the big red Kool Aid Man.

"Let's not get hasty, Jake...You only just woke up," Sue told me in a soothing voice. She tried to push me back to the covers, but I slapped her hand away.

"I feel fine," I lied. " I want to go out there. We're at war, aren't we?...Let me go out there."

"Sam will handle everything, Jake. You need your rest," Billy soothed too. Why were they all convincining me to stay behind?

"Sam," I repeated and Sam's name gritted against my teeth too. He saved my life. I owed him better then being pissed off at him, but SAM was going to handle everything, was he? This was what I started. Why couldn't I go out there?

"You keeping something from me? If you're not going to let me go out there...then I'll just sneak out when your all not looking."

"Fat lot of use you'll do when your out there, Jacob Black," I looked past Seth and suppressed a groan at the sight of Leah leaning against the doorway. She wasn't wearing the scoff I was imagining. She was looking solemn...like she was ready to cry.

I looked from one face to the other, and they each wore the same expression as Leah, and all of them refused to look at me, except Billy. And Billy's eyes were slowly filling with tears. I stared back at them, confused.

"What?" I asked, my voice breaking. I stared from Seth to Leah to Sue...back to my Dad. " What's going on?"

Seth twitched involuntarily.

"You can't phase anymore, Jake," Seth finally said in a hollow voice, staring hard at my fingers. " If you phase, the bandages will break...and you'll...."

He broke off, his eyes watering...unable to finish. He looked away from any part of me to the ceiling.

Leah to the rescue, her voice came out in a snarl. " You'll bleed to death."

That's what they were worried about. I smiled at Leah and her eyes tightened. Though I spoke before she could explode. " How long would it be if I phased?...Until I died?"

Billy answered that one, his watery eyes fixed on mine. " An hour..maybe less."

"So you want me to walk around with bandages on for the rest of my life? With a wound you can't close and can't heal? Not likely," I retorted. " Is that what you expect out of me?"

"No," Sue told me, her voice had cracked like Seth's had except she was making an effort to answer me. " The bandages won't stop the blood from escaping, Jacob. It'll only slow it... You will still..."

"Die," I finished for her. There was silence. I couldn't look at their faces anymore. This prospect of dying was easier to face without my Father right here...It was so easy to put on a brave face...but these people were mourning me already...knowing that I would collapse one day and never open my eyes.

I could have faced that darkness of death. I really could have. Alone.

"So without phasing," The prospect of not phasing hurt more then dying, more then wanting to know this stupid answer. " How long do I have?"

Sue shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks. She couldn't answer me. For once, I envied Edward Cullen's ability to read minds without having to turn into a wolf to do it. I wouldn't hear Sue's thoughts if I was a wolf, but I could pull the answer right out of Seth or Leah.

"Not that long," I finally said.

" A month if you stay sedated...Less if you move around, any strenuous activity will open the wound more...and cause more blood loss," Billy told me. He approached and placed his withered hand on my forehead. Already treating me like I was the dead. Steady tears rolled from his eyes.

I really couldn't bear this. I looked on the other side so his hand slid off of me.

I swung my legs around the left side of the bed. And two pairs of hands grabbed at my chest. I seized Seth and Leah's wrists, not being able to meet their eyes, but looking down at my own lap.

"Jake, no," Leah's voice was firm, hard. An order. Something I didn't have to obey. My hold tightened on the softer wrist which was Leah's. I pried her loose and she stepped away from me unwillingly.

Seth didn't want to let go. He dropped his hand, but both of them reached up and pulled me into a tight hug. I could feel my shoulder getting wet from the tears. I held him tightly to my chest and closed my own eyes as tight as I could, pushing my tears back. Over his shoulder, I looked at Leah, sullenly glaring at me against the wall.

"I'm sorry, Seth," I whispered, my jaw locked. How could I ever tell him...and everyone, just how sorry I was? Sorry for all the stupid mistakes I had made. Sorry for my selfishness. Sorry that they had to suffer for me.

"Billy," I said, letting go of Seth and twisting my body around to look at my Dad. My wince didn't go unnoticed and Seth tried to push me back onto the pillows. I resisted him. " You got the scraps of my Rabbit?"

"Yeah," Billy said in a thick voice. " But come on kid...your not going to rebuild it?"

"I am so not sticking in a bed for a month," I answered in a fierce voice. I heard protests, but I shook my head again and my voice rose. " HEY! I'm not going to count hours till my death. I want to do everything I can. Come what may."

"That's a really stupid attitude, Jake," Leah declared. I looked over at her and winked. She grimaced at me.

"There's no cure, kiddos. Why prolong something? I mean...you keep me on a bed...and I'm just gunna beg that you pull the plug after like...," I contemplated, ignoring the winces everyone did at the prospect of "plug-pulling". "three hours...yeah, then I'd just ask for more bloodsucker venom to end it faster."

"That's not funny, Jacob," Sue told me in a severe voice.

"You're right, because it's true," I contradicted her. " I don't want to die on a bed."

"You want to die fighting," Billy surmised, for the first time, he sounded angry.

"I made him a mental promise," My voice was constricted with fury and determination as I looked at their faces. " and I intend to keep it...my last breath will go to killing Cullen...that was my word. Quileutes don't make threats, we make promises...and I'm going to do it....no matter how hard you try to stop me."

"You can't even phase, Jacob Black!" Leah snapped.

"Hey, shut up, who cares?" I argued back in a laid back voice. I pressed down on the sides of the bed and jumped down. My feet ached from lack of use for six days and a few light spasms shot up my legs. I looked around at Billy and Sue, their faces tense with worry.

"That was dramatic," I finished. Leah rolled her eyes. I stood on my tip-toes and stretched my arms out. The breeze on my neck felt great...I liked short hair. Nothing felt out of place...I was just glad to be standing.


	5. Chapter 5

Before I knew it, I was back in my garage, lying flat on a skateboard while I pieced together a chassis part to the right shape. I was hammering all day...I was surprised Billy hadn't thrown a fit...but maybe he was just happy to have me in the house again.

And Seth was there, handing me the parts I asked for without question, glancing down at the bandages that were exposed in the momentary morning sunlight. I wore a really thin black and white plaid jacket with no undershirt. Those thick white bandages were pretty damn visible, covering up the hideous gore.

The Sun was out...which meant there was no hunt today. Seth had overwhelmed me with information on what had been going down. Apparently Sam and Emmett were at eachothers throats each time a Cullen was spotted walking free in town. And they did come down once or twice, but we didn't know why. Sam had said they were getting difficult, elusive. They knew how hard it was to make this war hidden to the eyes of the actual public, so they were pressing that advantage to the core. If we caught their scent, it was somewhere crowded...like a fair, or an outing. They were careful...very cautious to prevent a brawl.

I wondered why they hadn't left.

Charlie Swan was doing his best to find Bella. The sickness story was wearing thin...and now that he knew I was back at the house, he took to calling the house whenever he could to demand answers...but now that Paul was becoming a permanant resident, he took the habit of picking up and hanging up the phone whenever given the chance.

Charlie was like Bella. He was persistent. Now that I was back in town, he'd have to get his answers, and I didn't...really know what to tell him.

Why should I lie for the Cullens? Giving them up was a violation of the once important treaty. If I wanted to, I could. Charlie didn't need the truth though, no matter how much he had earned it. If he ever visited the Cullen house, or Bella, in general, he'd see for himself what she had become and what an abomination had been made with that monster.

"Wrench," I said, rolling out from underneath what was left of my engine and holding my hand out. Seth didn't do it. So I looked up.

"Jake," He whispered.

"What?" I asked, impatiently waving my hand to emphasize that I wanted my wrench.

"Charlie's here," Seth said with a groan. "We'd better go inside if Paul's going to be the one answering the door."

He immediately grabbed arm and carefully slid me against the car to my feet, careful not to bend my body. Bending caused the bandages to get an easier break. Like it mattered, I was already getting fresh bandages put on every four hours. I groaned and started buttoning up the plaid over my bandages.

Rain hit my head pretty hard as we walked in silence to the house. So much for sun. It was getting colder by the second...Well it was December, so no big surprise there. I felt the water more now that my hair was so short. Seth was infront of me, presumably to prevent Charlie from looking too close. Kid was so overprotective...but I didn't stop him. He opened the patio door and stood in frame, shaking his head of all the water while I mimicked him.

Charlie was at the dinner table, smiling at Billy who was at his left side. Rachel was anxiously asking if he needed anything. Clearly she didn't like the idea of an outsider here, not when I was wounded, exposed. Even with our height differences and how much older I looked than her, she still doted on me like the loving older sister. One of these days, I'd have to tell her much that meant to me...when Paul wasn't around.

Which of course meant, that day would never come.

"Hey kid," Charlie said, taking in my appearance. He looked surprised at the short hair, but smiled. " You look like your fresh out of the marine corp with that head on your shoulders."

I ran a hand over my short hair and smiled at him. " Yeah...I suppose I do."

" Where've you been? Saw you at the wedding...and you disappeared again,"

Wedding. Damn...was that really months ago, rather than years?

" Around," I replied shortly. I looked over Charlie's shoulder at Billy's expression. He didn't like my stupid answers that would so easily give me away. But he also knew that I really didn't care anyway.

"Billy must have been really worried," I wasn't the only one who noticed that my Dad looked like he aged ten years in a few days. Rachel sat at the table and faced me. She unwillingly glanced at my stomach, which almost gave everything away since Charlie addressed her.

"You must be happy with Rachel back," He nodded to Rachel who smiled a little to brilliantly back at him.

Damn small talk. Damn it to hell.

"I am," I grimaced. " I really...really am...but listen, Charlie...this...uh isn't really a good time for me to talk...I got alot of things to do, you know. I don't meant to be rude, but you know how that is."

He took a sip of the coffee Billy had placed before him and made an "mm" sound before he set it down. I watched him gulp it and then look at me. " I won't take too much of your time, kid. I just wanted to know if you...if you heard anything about Bella."

Hearing her name out loud, made my insides squirm and seemingly freeze.

"No," I licked my teeth and from the couch, Paul shot a strange, apologetic glance my way. He was sorry for me. " I haven't heard a thing."

"She hasn't talked to you?" Charlie sounded surprised. "Like a phone call or anything? "

"No...nothing," I told him honestly. My voice was hollow and it sounded sad, even to me. "Sorry, Charlie...I wish I could help, but I haven't heard anything."

"Still in Atlanta, I bet," Charlie whispered. He placed his elbows on the table and covered his face with both hands. I closed my eyes and something sharp in my stomach reacted to my accelerated heartbeat. Anger swept through me when I realized Charlie was still being lied to by those Bloodsuckers each time he called. He wasn't buying the story...that she was being treated without them letting him see. I turned around and Seth firmly took my elbow, letting me wallow for a moment while I leaned against his shoulder...gasping for air and calm.

"Jake," Seth said, only for me. " Just go to your room...I'll handle this."

"Yeah...handle this," I repeated softly, letting air go back to my lungs as I turned around just in time to see Charlie look up and begin to stand. Billy rolled away from the table at the same time to let him go. The old man was good at hiding emotions, but even I could tell he was relieved to let Charlie go.

"Well thanks, Jake. I'm glad we were able to talk. I'm glad your well," Charlie said, nodding to me and walking forward with his hand extended. I shook his hand, gripping it hard. Maybe this was the last time I'd ever lay eyes on Charlie Swan. That'd be something.

"As well as can be, Charlie. Don't be a stranger," I said, giving his hand an extra squeeze before letting go.

Be a big stranger.

Just as we all watched Charlie retreat to the door, it opened before he could touch the handle...Sam stepped into the threshold and I watched everything stiffen. Charlie gave him a little nod before closing the door behind him. I breathed a small sigh of relief, but Sam's presence stopped it from being anything big. He crossed the living room and approached me.

Paul jumped to his feet, but Sam, his eyes still on me, pointed behind him and gestured Paul to lower back in his seat. Paul slowly lowered back into the couch.

"Seth stay here. Jake, I need to talk to you," Sam told me, his black eyes smoldering into mine.

"Let's go outside then," I suggested, going back to the patio door and sliding it open. He followed close behind me as we stepped into the pouring rain. He closed the door behind him and turned to face me. Through the transparency, I could see Rachel and Billy trade worried looks while Seth protectively stood by the glass as if he was going to jump through it and tackle Sam in to the mud. What were they all huffed about? It was only Sam.

"Listen, kid," said Sam. " I'm worried about you."

You and the rest of the Pack.

"I'm worried about you and what you plan to do. You rebuilding that car just so you can crash it again?"

"It passes the time," I lied, straight-faced.

He didn't buy it. He didn't take his eyes off my face when he reached into his jacket pocket and took out a black and silver phone. He held it out for me and dropped it in my palm. I flipped it open to find a generic sunset screen staring back at me.

"Keep that close, all right? It's pre-paid, but I put minutes on it. If your in any kind of trouble, dial the first number you got on there and I'll pick up, okay? I didn't put names to the numbers just in case it gets picked up by the enemy."

I stared at the phone before closing it. Really, this was a stupid way of keeping track of someone's doings. I resolved never to pick up the phone no matter who called. Though I pocketed it, just so my former Alpha didn't get angry with me.

"Okay," I said. Sam nodded to me, clasping my shoulder so hard that I winced.

"Reckless mongrel," He said with a smile.

" Dirty mutt," I said right back at him.

"You're the dirty, bleeding mutt here," And without warning, he grabbed my the back of my head and grounded his knuckles into my skull. I let out a bark-like laugh as he caught me in a headlock. "Who's a mutt, Jake?"

"Ahgh! You are!" I shouted back while he tightened his hold around my neck.

"What was that?" Sam growled.

"I am! Dammit, Sam! Uncle! Uncle!" Sam laughed and let me go. He was still chortling when he opened the screen door and stepped inside. I theatrically winced and rubbed my neck while following him in. But Sam was all serious when I got in, sliding the same type of phone to Rachel, who looked up at him questioningly.

"Just in case," Sam told her, he looked up to where Paul was on the couch about to say something but I interupted him.

"What're you, Santa?" I asked in a cynical voice

"Well it is going to snow later," Sam answered in a cool voice. " Come on Paul...I'll take you to lunch."

"Yeah the fridge is empty here," Paul said, jumping away from the game. I had to look away and pantomime gagging when he came over to Rachel and pecked her on the lips. Paul winked at me and gave me a painful punch in the shoulder before walking side by side with Sam out the door.

All eyes went to me, and I placed my elbow on Seth's shoulder and eyed my Dad and sister. " Well...I think I'm going to take a walk."

"Wear a jacket," Rachel said, jumping up. "I think you should take Seth with you too."

"What the hell? Seth, as your Alpha, you sit down and wait for lunch," I told Seth fiercely.

"Go with Jake, Seth," Rachel overrode me. Despite himself, Seth sat down on the last available chair.

"Eat some well made fried chicken and like it!" I shouted, louder then her. She stared at me with wide eyes and I winked, keeping my expression as menacing I could. Billy shook his head at the two of us and rolled away.

"Phone on, Jake," Billy managed to say before his voice became lower in the confines of his own room. I could tell the old man was relieved to have Paul out of the house.

"Exactly," I said, gesturing to where Billy was stationed a moment ago. " Ya see? You guys can keep tabs on me."

Rachel was grudging but she let me go. I drew close to her and planted a kiss on her cheek. She gave me a scandalized look, but her eyes warmed up to me. I turned without looking at either of them, following Sam and Paul's footsteps to the door. I stopped only to pick out my black leather jacket from the stand and shrug it on.

As soon as I stepped out, I was glad I brought the jacket. It was snowing, Sam wasn't lying about that..and even for someone as hot blooded as me, the snow hit me pretty hard. At least I wouldn't turn into a blue ice cube like everyone else though.

I walked down my front lawn, feeling Seth and Rachel's stares on the back of my head as I did...once I was in front of my neighbor's lawn, I was glad...at least I didn't have their worrying eyes on my neck anymore.

Walking...walking...waiting...wanting.

At this moment...I didn't know what I wanted...I may not have been in a bed...but I was counting hours to my death...

And I'd never see her again...

Here...now...walking through the snow-drenched rocks inside the forest, I knew what I wanted more than anything.

I didn't even care that she was married...had a kid with another guy...guy...vampire, man...whatever she considered him.

I just wanted to see her one more time...It didn't matter to me if she was a vampire. I could live with that scent.

A year ago, if you asked me, I never believed I could depend and love on someone so hard. I'd laugh in your face.

Bella...Bella.... Her name broke through all the walls I had built to contain it.

I eventually was able to focus through the water in my eyes. And I realized where I was. It was the forest surrounding La Push. If I went east, I'd probably be near the beach...but I didn't want to go to the beach. The memories were worse there than they were here.

That was the wrong assumption.

So quickly, that I must have imagined it, I saw the briefest flash of brown through the trees. When I shifted my gaze, I immediately thought I probably had imagined it...but there it was again, the brown flash...the more I looked, the less of a flash it became. It was someone moving.

They clearly didn't like the snow...Stumbling over rocks and conspicuously flapping their arms around each time they got stuck.

My heart froze.

I didn't even know I was running until the scenery bounced around me. Trees became nothing but a blur of black and white...Rocks were gray splats against the wind.

She was wearing only a thin black jacket over a white t-shirt and jeans. Her back was to me, but I watched her get caught in between two jagged rocks and lose her balance, falling backward.

I was a flash, my arms extended as she fell in them.

Her cheeks glowed a pretty pink color as she looked at me, fading, but never truly leaving her face as she gazed up at me in my arms. She smiled wide...that smile that made me feel like I was the best thing that could have ever happened her.

She didn't look like I expected...She didn't smell like I expected. She looked better. The last incident I saw her in could have never happened. As I touched her cheek, there was no cold...no freezing temperature that would have felt as cold as the snow. She was as warm as could be...and she smelled wonderful...She smelled like home.

"Bella?" I asked in a soft voice, my examinations only taking a second while I held her.

Her big chocolate brown eyes brightened at my calling of her name and she adjusted herself so her arms were around my chest. "Jacob!!!"

Her grip around me was hard. I hugged her back, my eyes closing on the silly tears that swam through them. She was real, so real.

"God, Bella, you look great," I couldn't help but say as I pulled her back for just an embrace, my arms around her waist. She didn't protest them, she was as happy to see me as I was to see her. I tilted my head while looking at her pink face. Yes, she was reacting to the cold, the dreadful cold that she hated so much.

"So do you," She stated. I stood her upright and kept a tight grip on her hand. She was a little above me, which made her look down at me with a slightly smug expression at being just a bit taller then I was for the time being. "I'm so glad to see you, Jake! We can do anything now! Don't I owe you a cliff diving accident in the making?"

I laughed, despite the break in my voice. " It's a little too cold for that, Bells. You really want to get a fever?"

"I don't really mind. You're warm enough for the both of us. Just as long as you hold on to me," She gave me a wink. Her way of flirting, I couldn't stop the laugh this time. I squeezed her hand. Why displease her?

"I'd have to keep the clothes on, just for that extra warmth," I told her. She didn't need to see the bandages...the extent of damage that her man had caused on me. Well...actually, I couldn't really blame him anymore. This was my doing, my recklessness.

The wound didn't really ache uncomfortably, itch...with Bella here. My mind was so full to the brim with joy that nothing else really mattered right now.

She was overjoyed that I had agreed without actually saying yes. She began walking with me in the direction of the beach, to the east. That pleased me, she knew where we were going. Each step away from Cullen...was a step towards me....at least for now.

When the time came to let her go, would I be able to?

"And here I was under the impression that you liked being half-naked all the time, Jake," Bella told me, tightening my hand in her fingers as we began climbing the rock formations. I followed her instead of leading...Her slow pace, for the most part. I was content with just hearing her talk.

" I did, when it actually mattered-whoa!" And she slipped again. I caught her in my arms where she giggled cheerfully.

" You know, I don't think I mind the snow with you as my pocketful of sunshine," She laughed as she disentangled herself and stood on a higher rock then I, promptly turning around with her hands on her hips in a satisfied manner.

"Pocketful...Bells. I'm a lot bigger then something in your pocket," I told her, with my voice heavy with skepticism. She clapped her hands together happily at my joke.

" You're right!" She said, pointing at me and winking again. " You're like...my big ray of sunshine."

I rolled my eyes. " So what's Cullen? Your big avalanche?"

She scoffed at me and whirled around, continuing her stride. I climbed on the rock she was just on and began following. But when I was close enough, I wrapped my hands around her waist and caught her off guard with one of the biggest hugs I could manage.

"Jake-can't-breathe-!" She squealed in a constricted voice while I lifted her two feet off the ground. I laughed and set her down on a patch of snowy grass where she turned to face me with her lower lip pouting. Despite her momentary anger, I couldn't help but warm myself in this moment. She placed her hands on her hips and stomped her feet.

Like they do on TV. I managed not to laugh.

"Jacob Black! Do you have any concept of territorial bounds?!"

I laughed again and poked her lightly on the nose with my pointer finger. " Territorial bounds? The bloodsucker is the only one who gets to give you a hug now?"

Her expression softened. " Aw, Jake, you know I didn't mean it like that." She opened her arms to me and I wrapped my arms around her waist again, pressing her to me. Amazing. No pain from the wound.

I realized we were closer then expected to the beach. I looked over her shoulder at the opening in the trees. Suddenly, she felt a bit colder to me from our last embrace and I realized she might need my jacket. I let her go and began unfurling it off my arms.

And that's when I saw it. My footsteps were embedded all over the snow, leaving a trail of where we came from.

That was the thing. MY footprints. Only one set of footprints. There was no other two shoe prints that would have clearly represented the big snow boots that Bella was wearing. My wide eyes traced the trail as far as my vision could go, but even there, I didn't see any evidence of another. Before that, the footprints were closer together, probably because I had run to catch Bella when she was going to fall.

"Bella!" My voice came out a snarl. I grabbed her elbow and clenched down as hard as I could. As soon as I grabbed her ,the phone in my pocket started vibrating with a little jingle that had a sound with no comparison to the sound of the snarls building in my chest.

She looked at me with wide eyes, squealing as expected by my tight grip.

As expected. She was doing what I thought she'd do. She had said...what I wanted her to say. She was acting like I remembered her to act.

This.

This was not Bella.

My hand closed over air at this realization. I saw the shocked expression on her face tear at my chest before her whole body broke like a million pieces of glass. Each shard didn't touch the rock, it dispersed in air, like it was never there.

Because it WAS never there.

I stood there, horror struck...My face twisted with anguish and rage. But the pain outweighed the anger...and I felt tears prickle my eyelids. I was gasping, ready to scream. I wanted nothing more, at that moment , to die. A normal human would never be able to hold this much pain, this much hurt. A normal human would die from this weight of sheer loss.

And I wanted to die.

I didn't even know where I was...but I was on my knees...and I wasn't crying, I was pounding my thighs with my fist...but there was no feel to it. The phone in my pocket vibrated and sang its jingle again...but I was alone.

Steadily, with trembling hands, I drew it out...and checked the number. Not a number I recognized. Some insignificant part of my mind reminded me that Sam hadn't put names to these goddamn numbers.

I picked it up and spoke in a hollow, empty voice. " Hello?"

"You know, you ought to get better taste in the female species. Married women are hardly good sport," said a silky voice that sounded like music.

My immediate thought was Edward Cullen. I got back to my feet and spun around. The tremors in my hands never left and it was becoming increasingly difficult to hold the phone.

"Who are you?" I asked in a hiss. "How'd you get my number?"

"Down boy," He responded in an entertained voice. Now I knew this wasn't Cullen. He never played. This voice was much older, much more menacing. " Why don't you search through the options of how I found your number? It won't take long, you're smart if you really try to be."

There was silence and then it clicked through my anger and frustration. One of the Pack was caught by this reeking bloodsucker. I snarled a curse word so loud on the phone that it must have come out like static garble to him.

He laughed and I heard the phone leave his ear. In the brief silence, I heard a ear piercing shriek of pain.

"Rachel!" I called, but she didn't answer me, only screamed, didn't know I was there, or was in too much pain.

"If you want to see little Miss Black ever again, your going to come to the old mill just northeast of La Push. It's a perfect place for you and I to meet." The silk voice told me. " I so look forward to our meeting."

I growled and my eyes flew everywhere. He knew...He knew about the illusion, or whatever it was. He had brought me here, far from Rachel so that he could nab her.

I needed to know the identity of this prick.

"Wait," He stayed on the line, and I had to use a tremendous effort to stay calm. " If you hurt her, I'll kill you myself. I swear I'll bring hell to your doorstep. So what's the name of this brave soul who's going to be dead soon enough?"

"My name is Caius Volturi," He answered me softly. I froze a little, the last name meant something to me...something Bella explained in a past life, but it didn't ring a bell now, so obviously it was of little importance.

"One hour, Jacob Black. If you're not here by then, I will slit her throat and leave her to die."

Dial tone.


	6. Chapter 6

A snarl ripped at my chest. I saw the "Call Ended" thing pop up on the screen while I held it away. My eyes flashed furiously. I picked a random number out of the phone book and pressed it back to my ear.

On the second ring, Seth picked up. It was my house.

"Where's Rachel?" I asked, not bothering to keep the menace out of my voice.

"She left like soon after you did. Jake, you all right?..Some guy came and...," Seth sounded panicked. I bit back a groan of pure agony. It wasn't a lie...He had my sister.

"Get my bike out of the garage and get to the beach," I snarled. I heard him say my name once before I seized handfuls of my hair and let a fierce roar burst through my lips.

Heat flooded me. I felt the familiar fire curve my back. I felt spasms

"No...I blinked and closed my eyes as tight as I could, resisting the phasing as much as I could, trying to flood calm back into me. Despite my efforts, one of the bandages combusted and the tank top I was wearing underneath my jacket was stained with my blood.

I gasped and began running, leaping past the remainder of rocks, finishing the course that Bella and I would have gone on. The clearing was like a beacon to me, and I shot towards it. As soon as I was in between the two familiar trees, I leaned against them and looked for what I needed.

There was Seth. Fast as I needed him to be, parking the bike into the lot. I leapt towards him, landing hard on my feet, which sent a shock of pain up my legs. He turned to find me there, surprised. His eyes flickered to the forest behind me, and his jaw locked.

"Jake, tell me, what's wrong?" He asked uncertainly.

I shook my head, unable to speak. I looked at Seth and truly saw him as if for the first time. At his black eyes, frightened now as they watched my assessment. His short stature. In more ways than one, this kid was my brother. The little brother I never had.

"Jake," He protested right before I pulled him into a one right armed hug, while my left arm curled around my torso to prevent my guts from spilling out. He felt it nonetheless.

"You crying?" His voice came out shaky, but I could tell he was trying to keep it light.

"No," I said in an honest voice as I looked out to the beach over his shoulder.

He pulled away from me by a few inches to look at my face, a forced smile on his face. "Then why are my clothes getting wet?"

I didn't answer. His gaze fell between us, at the blood that had colored his hand from my jacket. I staggered away from him, an apology ready in my eyes. He looked anguished...a choked gasp escaped his mouth but I couldn't look at him anymore. There was no pretension anymore. It pained him to see me in pain.

I can't protect you, kid.

I can't even protect my own blood.

Sad parting words. I didn't say them. I clapped him on the shoulder and hoped to God that he knew just how terrible it was for me to see him like this. I hoped he knew that this was possibly the last time I'd look at him.

It was good knowing that one of the last people I saw was also...Bella.

I turned and walked past Seth, climbing onto my bike and starting up the ignition. The bike roared underneath me, and I gave it a soft pat on the side before looking at Seth again.

"Take care of your big sister, she needs it," I told Seth while kicking off and leaving his lone silhouette. I twirled the bike around with ease, and sped off towards the open road, swerving perfectly as the wind blew past me.

I knew I would never be able to take a bloodsucker with an open wound so exposed. The bloodsucker was quick, they all were. They'd know exactly where to strike...To rip me apart with a hard grip on either side of my torso.

I'd have shuddered and flinched away from this train of thought if I hadn't known it was coming so soon.

The true trick was keeping the Bloodsucker distracted enough so that I could get Rachel out.

La Push was a blur behind me, and I knew I was going the right way..More north. When I hit the cleared road, I swerved my bike into the snow covered dirt to my left, heading my own way...Northeast like he said. It was vague, the bloodsuckers direction, but it would have to do. My bike left trails in the mud and I prayed I had no one following.

Eventually, I hit something. A black something was evident in the distance. I pressed down on the clutch and stepped down on the gas pedal. The bike groaned under me, but sped up as I desired. I growled in tune with my bike and sped on.

Bigger, bigger.

Rachel, please hold on.

Finally, it became evident what I was going for. A huge windmill. One of those hold fashioned ones that had some internal workings to grind the grain. I knew this place hadn't been lived in for probably two centuries. The wood that held the fan was pretty beat up, full of splinters and faded brown paint.

The barn it connected too had its two double wooden doors open, ready for me. I could see a set of footprints. My eyes followed them, backwards. I tried to see what direction they came from, but the falling snow was so thick, leaving a trail of fog. I probably wouldn't know the way back to the road now..and by the time I got out, my bike tracks would have faded too.

That didn't really matter.

I climbed off my bike and left it idling. Cautiously, I started following the footsteps to the doors.

Through the cracks in the wood from the barn doors, I saw nothing but a few rays of white light from the cracks in the ceiling. It shed its white light on dusty haystacks and an old motorwagon that took up most of the space inside. Above there was the grinding, harsh noise from the grain grinder, spinning round and round. I didn't bother looking at that...even though the sound was loud and impulsively annoying. Really, this was something out of the eighteenth century. This bloodsucker couldn't have picked a better place to suck someone dry.

I pushed open the doors all the way with all my might. And as soon as I entered, they slammed closed behind me with a loud banging sound. The smell of bloodsucker hit my nostrils hard. Sweet...sickly sweet and icy. Smelled different from the Cullens. This scent was much stronger. It was everywhere, overwhelming and just plain gross.

"Rachel?" I called to the darkness. My voice bounced off the walls back at me. Strange place to have an echo. I called her name again. "RACHEL! ANSWER ME!"

"JAKE!" Someone's frantic, high-pitched voice called me. I looked up at last.

Rachel dangled from the roof, her wrists bound by a rope to a piece of wood built to the ceiling. Just below her was the grain grinder, spinning vertically in accordance to the windmill outside. The flaps were so large. The fall alone would kill her. She must have been nearly one hundred feet up...I felt myself tremble with the image of the flaps on the grinder spinning faster, which they could so easily do.

"Rachel!" I screamed. " Hold on! I'll get you down! Just hold on!"

I began grabbing the hood of the little motorwagon, willing myself to stand atop it. There was nothing, even at my height, to reach. My stomach wound winced and another bandage strip ripped open and I ignored it. She was too high for me. But there HAD to be someway to get up there...I looked at one of the flaps. I could leap for it when it came my way and climb it as it came my way.

Step. Creak. Step.

A hooded figure stepped onto a plank that was just level with Rachel. He was wearing a long black cloak that zipped up from the bottom. He had his hood drawn so I couldn't see his face, but he rectified that quite quickly.

He had very pale skin, naturally, that was almost translucent. It was pretty similar to the color of a white onion. His hair was shoulder length and as white as his skin. He looked ancient...even though there were no wrinkles to see. Just looking at him, made me want to rip him apart. As he looked down at me, I saw a gleam pass his eyes that showed me they were the deepest burgundy color.

A natural born bloodsucker.

"I did not think you would come," This parasite told me. His voice was silky, smooth and slightly more audible then a snake. Normal human ears didn't have a hope of hearing him.

"I did, so let her go," I spoke through gritted teeth

He looked bemused. His lips parted slowly.

"Ah...That could be a problem," He said in a soft voice. "She's your bait, why should I let her go?"

"Because I'm here. She has nothing to do with you, bloodsucker," I spat, resuming my climb but he took a step towards Rachel menacingly.

"I will cut her down if you take one more step, boy. Do not try me," He said in a steely voice.

I was frozen.

"Better, step down and calm your anger," I glared at him and he smiled. "It seems discipline is something I have to beat into you. Step down or she falls to her death, Jacob Black."

My legs moved before my mind wanted them to. I jumped back and my feet hit the wooden floor in front of the motorwagon, but my eyes never left the vampire's.

"Now, let her go," I said.

"I didn't say I would let her go if you obeyed me," He laughed, and I heard an edge to this laughter...it sounded like nails on the chalkboard. I cringed a bit. He controlled himself at my reaction and a smile fixed his face. " Perhaps we can talk first, Jacob Black."

"I have nothing to say to someone who's about to die," I growled.

"So hostile. I suppose when one is so close to death, they get that way," Caius said. I heard artificial sympathy in his voice, but I knew there was mockery behind it. I snarled, readying myself to leap at the spinning flaps without the added height of the wagon.

"Calm your anger," He warned me. There was no joke to his voice now. He glowered down into my black eyes. I didn't even realize the anger was so visible on me. My arms were shaking, my body was growing heated with fury...but I closed my eyes and expelled a breath through my nose that had the tremors down to a minimum.

"Good job," He commended. He raised a gloved hand and directed it over his chest. " Jacob Black, my name is Caius of the Volturi. It is a pleasure to meet you at last....I was eager for this meeting when I learned of your war with the Cullens...You are per say the leader of your Pack, are you not?"

Pack meaning Leah and Seth? Idiot. He had no idea. His stupid question had me forgetting to be furious.

But at this point, I'd rather be dead then Sam being here. I was already so close to death.

"Sure, why not?" I answered as coolly as I could. I heard Rachel squirm and my eyes tightened.

He smiled down at me. " Not Children of the Moon, but impressive nonetheless. I have a proposition for you, Jacob Black. In exactly one month, The entire Volturi coven will descend to this insignificant state to destroy the treacherous mark on our kind. Those Cullens that you set so much hatred for...every single one of them has been sentenced to death."

I froze, my muscles locking down as if for impact. These words washed over me. My thoughts immediately went to Bella, in danger...the rest didn't matter. The horrid monster in my chest roared his approval at the possible future where the other Cullens would be massacred.

Strange. I was never a really violent person...and it seemed that I was getting closer and closer to my breaking point.

The parasite continued, smiling toothily at my reaction. "I'd like you to join me. I'd like you to be apart of my Guard. You wouldn't miss out the chance to end your war altogether, would you? After all, the Cullens violated the treaty..."

All this to get me to join his ranks. I didn't believe that. This leech was going to kill Rachel no matter what I said. He was a hungry one.

"Put her down and I'll hand in my resumé," I said with a small smile.

He could sense the lack of seriousness. His smile was frozen in place and his expression hardened as he looked at Rachel. She met his gaze and flinched, immediately trying to free herself of the bindings. I stepped forward, feeling pain in my neck from looking up so long.

Caius was a blur, he leapt towards the beginning of his little plank and pressed down on some lever or contraption. Whatever it was, it made the grinder spin super fast. It was so easy to see Rachel because of how fast the flaps(probably now as fast as spinning blades) were going. She was there with each half second, screaming almost inaudibly over the sound of the grinder.

"NO!" I shouted, but Caius became a black blur again, and he landed with a perfect dent in the motorwagon's hood. I backed away a few steps at the proximity between us.

That's why I was here. For this. I growled low and began to crouch, preparing to spring.

"Regrettable," He said, shaking his head. He sounded like he meant it. When he opened his eyes, his voice came out earnest and slightly pleading. " I really didn't want it to be this way. I have no desire to kill your sister, Jacob Black. But it seems you do have that desire....It's regrettable."

I lunged for him, but he was gone, my arms closed over air and I nearly fell headlong into the hood he was just on, but I whirled around and saw him there, hands behind his back, a serene smile playing on his pale face.

"Erebus," Caius whispered.

The doors behind Caius burst open and a new reeking stench poured in.

He was tall. Taller than me, and I was sure Caius was too, when they stood next to eachother. I didn't notice before that the old man was tall, because I was so intent on killing him. This one had pale skin, of course, but deep dark purple bruises under his pitch black eyes from lack of proper bloodsucker nourishment. Unlike the other bloodsuckers I had seen, his lips weren't that big, but rather pressed into one hard line. His hair was black and slicked back and he looked like something off a stupid modeling show, except that the expression on his face had only one word for it: hungry.

He didn't wear what Caius wore, but they matched in color. He had a long sleeved black shirt that seemed to shine along with matching pants. Clothes made for fighting...loose fitted.

His eyes were locked on mine. Did this bloodsucker find me appetizing? That was flattering.

Caius's mouth barely moved, but I understood everything. "Break him."

He stepped away from me, to the side where there was a space that could fill a car between this Erebus and I.

I got out of my crouch and looked him dead in the eyes. Black on black. " Let's play fair. Fight me as if I had my whole strength. "

He nodded slowly. " Of course."

He bowed to me, though keeping his head up to see me, so that I didn't like backhand him or something. He rose and I slipped back into my crouch. He nodded once and so did I.

We lunged into eachother at the same time. A sickening crunch came from my thigh as I slammed my knee into his stomach while his arms wrapped around my chest in a tight grip. I felt the healing ache trigger a second later in my thigh before I slid my right arm up his iron hold and punched him in the nose. Again, my knuckles broke. I bit back a cry of pain as he released me, leering.

We both spun around, gracefully, back to back, while I shot my left elbow up and felt it slam against his cheek. He turned away from me, breaking our "dance" and touching his jaw gingerly with one hand. As I turned to see for myself, his jawline had stretched a little to the side. I watched him adjust it with a sickening crunching noise.

And we were off, like two wolves. It was nothing like fighting Paul. It was like fighting a cement wall. He had my moves perfectly synchronized. Each punch, he countered with a dodge, never trying to deliberately break my bones with blows of his own, but rather trying to basically rip me apart with his bare hands. Each blow I blocked was an attempt to take a hold of me that I could not allow under any circumstance.

I landed a knee to his ribs that had him against the barnyard doors, doubled over.

I closed the distance between us, bringing my right leg up, aiming high and throwing my foot at his lowered face. I heard another crunch as I managed to crush his high cheekbone, letting whatever steel-hard bone he had recede into his mouth. I finished with another jab from my just-healed hand. It shattered under his cold skin, but it did the job. He staggered into the wall this time, using his whole right palm to cover his face. I aimed a blow to his stomach with my left hand, but he caught me there, releasing his mouth so fast it was a white blur. His stone fingers ran deep in to my knuckles, individually crushing each bone with a domino effect. I fruitlessly tried to use my right hand, but he caught me there with his left.

I cringed horribly. Suddenly his fingers were entwined around mine and he was crushing the space between each finger...And until all ten had broken, did his goal change. He pushed my palms back trying to rip my hands off at the wrists. Tight, painful spasms ran up my wrists up to my fingers, screaming their protest at this cold pressure.

A agonized gasp released from my mouth as I brought my feet in between us and pressed my boots into his chest. He didn't relent his grip one bit. I pressed down and finally my hands were able to shift forward. He realized what I was trying to do, as strange as I looked, by feet pressed on his chest while inches away to the sides, he held my hands. He released me just in time, to watch all of the energy in my body shoot to my feet. I felt the pressure under my feet leave as I shot like a rubber band across the barn; hitting the motorwagon and feeling it dent under me, nearly breaking my back. My shoulders were stiff, and I knew I had dislocated them both. I could hear wood breaking under weight. I wasn't the only one that went flying.

My eyes snapped open and I saw Rachel above me, Caius next to her, his hands closed on the rope that she was tied too. Individual aches snapped my fingers back to their rightful position

"NO!!!!" I roared, starting to get up, but feeling nearly every bone I owned, beg no. My eyes pleaded with him.

"You can stop this, Jacob! You can end this, Jacob Black!" Caius shouted down at me.

"NO!" I screamed again, lifting my head a few inches.

"Then say goodbye!" He cackled, yanking the rope once.

"Jake!!" Rachel screamed.

At that split second, everything ended. I knew more than ever, that Jacob Black had died...he had died with Bella in the Cullen home. I knew that it was just a ghost, some false, faint replica of what I once was that was residing in this body.

At that split second, heat flooded me and white-hot fire licked my inside organs. The fire seeped down my spine, all the way down my back, down my calves, to my feet. My back curved forward, and my chest heaved in the air. Tremors ran down my face, my neck, all the way down. My rib cage lurched forward, ripping my shirt into tatters and the bandages so tightly stuck my stomach, burst open. Before my face extended, I felt blood tear at my throat. I rolled off of my back and felt my phasing complete with one rolling extension.

Was this place big to me once? It was tiny now. I swiped the air and ripped a thick wooden pillar connected to the high ceiling off its spokes. It flew to the side, but I caught it in between my teeth and in the same hundredth of the second, spotted Erebus, preparing to spring at me. I rocked my head to one side and threw the wooden pillar at his chest. He flew backwards, the end of the pillar penetrating his chest cavity.

In the same second, a growl rumbled in my chest as threw myself at the side wall and used it to scratch my paws against it twice before I bounded into the air, high above the grain grinder, right below Rachel's feet. Just as she was yanked down a second time. I felt her cold legs gracefully on either side of me.

I fell again, the blades from the grinder slashing my fur and cutting me under my ribs...but I was already leaving a blood trail all over this damn barn, what did it matter if a few more cuts came for the ride? I kicked off the wood planks that my paws hit and threw myself headlong out the open barnyard doors. I was running...panting...my bike was idling in my sight. I snatched it up as careful as one could possibly be when using their teeth.

Not stopping. Not looking back.

I could feel the blood down my legs and knees...I wasn't going to last. But I had to get Rachel out. I had to get to something other then fog and snow in my way.

Please, God...please...Just let me get to the road.

And something started blurring my eyes. A black curtain...a black veil...I wasn't going to make it through this...

My pace must've slowed because suddenly Rachel's shriek was in my ear.

"JACOB!" She screamed...Yeah I definitely slowed...alot. She rolled off my right side and stepped in front of me.

"Stop, Jacob...Phase back...Please," She whispered while tears formed in her eyes. I blinked my black eyes on her face...it was fading with the black smoke that was starting to cloud my vision. I dipped my head gently and set the bike down.

Just like in the forest outside the Cullens, I didn't even need to phase out. My body just couldn't handle being a wolf. Heat left me and cold flooded in. I felt my arms and legs shoot out as the fur receded into my body. I was on my front again, my whole front body, mashed against the snow while I openly bled into it...mouth and wound.

Rachel grabbed me by my right arm and turned me over. Her eyes grazed the gaping hole in my abdomen and she flinched at the sight of it. All the times she had spent bandaging me up, she got used to, but seeing it open like I had just got it today was not something she was used too. The little hinges of my skin had stretched over, barely masking the intestine that was mashed against the remains of flesh.

"Rach...just go," I groaned. She tried to move me, but my shoulders cracked painfully. I reached up and pressed my left hand against my right shoulder, lurching it forward with a nasty crunch. My right was back in place. I did the same for my left shoulder, using my right hand.

She moved me upright, against her lap where I laid for a second. "Rachel please leave me here."

"No," She told me firmly. I panted; her face was going in and out of my focus.

"They came here for me, Rachel...I'm not going to let them hurt our family...if we run, they will follow," I told her, my breaths coming out harsh and labored.

"I am not leaving you here, Jacob,"

God, she sounded like Leah. I wasn't having it this time, like I didn't last time.

"GO!" I roared, and she cringed back at the menace in my tone. "Take the bike and go! I'm not surviving this, okay?! I'm not!"

"Yes you are!" She retorted, but I heard tears in her voice. "Come on Jake, don't say this...We're going to go home...See Billy...You're going to see Rebecca again."

"No," I shook my head. Every second she wasted, was a step closer to being some bloodsuckers lunch. I nodded towards the bike. "Please, do as I say...Please."

She shook her head and glared at me. I opened my mouth to speak.

"Do as he says," His voice came out of nowhere. I saw his silhouette right behind Rachel and my eyes bulged. Caius grimaced at me.

"Leave and your family are safe from us. Do not think me a liar when I say that I will bring hell on your doorstep to retrieve what is MINE." He looked at me when saying it and I let out another, panicked, labored breath.

Erebus emerged on his other side, supporting his chest, where there was no hole, but a bunch of wooden splinters where my pillar had done damage. I hope the bastard got Asbestos.

Caius lifted Rachel by the hair and I let out a snarl, but he pushed her towards the bike. "Trade one for three lives, Miss Black. If I do not get this Black, then I will kill all of what is yours."

She winced and I knew she was thinking of Paul. An easy prey to this scum. Prey, like she had been. I panted, slow...easy...blackness started numbing my body, I wouldn't move an inch....I couldn't move an inch.

".....Take care of him," I whispered softly, while my eyes closed slow..opened again and took in my sister for the last time. I tried to commit it to memory forever, so that I would remember Rebecca too. She gazed at me with watery eyes, knowing...knowing the next time I'd close my eyes, it would be my last.

She held my stare for the last time before turning towards the bike, unsteadily placing it upright and sitting atop it. She couldn't even look at Caius and Erebus. She believed what I believed, that I had died already...that I had died the minute I phased in the barn...nothing kept me here.

Everything went black after that....I couldn't even feel the snow on my body. I could only feel the throbbing pain in my stomach that sourly told me it was time to let go and just die. But the last words I could have sworn I heard were...

"He'll be fine in Volterra."


	7. Chapter 7

Time heals all wounds.

The black veil was thick. The first feeling I got was in my eyes, but I didn't open them yet. The place was bright as hell though even with my eyes closed. It shed a pink-orange radiance on my closed lids. I felt feeling tremble down my chest, to my legs and down to my feet. I could move everything, but that didn't suggest I wanted too. I was lying down somewhere. The nerves in my back told me it was something soft. I was dead, wasn't I? And opening my eyes and seeing Hell would be the first evidence of it. I'd procrastinate on that as much as I could.

I was in the snow...that's what I remembered from my past life...and I remember excruciating pain in my wound. Wound...it didn't ache...didn't throb.

My fingers twitched, wanting to touch it, to see if someone had bandaged up my corpse.

Dead bodies don't twitch.

My eyes snapped open, followed by my regret. My vision had been tainted red-orange...I blinked numerous times to the light, willing my retinas to adjust, but they didn't. Instead, I looked down, where at the foot of the bed, there was three figures.

Was I dead?

The figures were cloaked, watching me. I slid my body up and felt the blinding light shine on my stomach instead. My eyes fell to my abs. I lifted the light blue and white squared hospital gown off my stomach and suppressed a gasp.

Nothing. Not even a mark. My fingers traced where the huge hole was, and there was just something cold about the area. I breathed in and winced when I saw my stomach steadily suck in with me. No pain...I reached down and gingerly traced it...expecting some sort of mask of fake skin to fade with my touch.

The middle of the three figures stepped forward and pulled down his hood. I suppressed a snarl that rose to my throat at the sight of Caius.

"I trust you are feeling quite better," Caius spoke in his silky voice. His eyes were a much lighter red then the last time I saw him. They bored into mine, but I didn't flinch.

"Where's Rachel?" I asked sourly.

He smiled. " Your older sisters are quite fine...." He paused, looking back at the other two hooded figures. I looked at them too, they were each the same height, really goddamn short. At least to me. Caius looked back at me and spoke slowly. " At least in the physical aspect, they couldn't be better."

The physical aspect. I was confused, and it showed on my face.

" You're dead, Jacob Black. Yesterday, Forks Washington was graced with your funeral. You left enough of your filthy blood in that mill and on the snow for me to throw anyone off with your scent....all I needed was a beyond recognition mangled body that was a little tanned. It was all exceedingly easy. They marked your gravestone somewhere in the La Push cemetary. Right next to Mommy dearest."

I heard a hiss. A girlish little jingle from the other two and my eyes snapped to them.

"Patience, Jane," Caius said to the hissy person without looking away from my face. I was seething, but I winced at a sudden pain in my chest. I clutched at it, with my right hand curled around my hospital gown. I steadily took a labored breath and the memory, the ghost of the wound in my stomach seemed to throb painfully or maybe that was just my imagination.

Everyone thought I was dead back home...I gulped and felt my hands tremble, followed by another tight shot of pain to my chest.

"Ah...," Caius said with a small smile. "Quite steady. That pleases me."

I didn't know head nor tail of this statement. I dropped my hand back to the sheets.

"Where are my manners?" He took a few steps back towards the two hooded figures. He gestured to the one on the right first. "Jane, Alec, uncover yourself."

The little figure came to the side of my bed and slowly pulled back the hood covering its face. I thought it was a little boy at first. She was tiny with lank, pale brown hair trimmed short. Her body was slim, shaped for a girl at least. The face was too pretty for a boy. Wide blood red eyes and full lips.

Her voice came out childish, I wasn't surprised, but it was in complete monotone, as if she wanted to be anywhere else in the world but here. "A pleasure, puppy."

Nice epithet, bloodsucker.

The other figure stopped short behind her. He dropped the hood and he looked like he could easily be Jane's twin. His hair was darker and his lips weren't as full as hers. When he got in the light, I noticed his cloak was a pale gray rather than a pitch black.

"Alec and Jane," Caius gestured to these twins then to me with his pale hand. " Meet Jacob Black."

I shook that off, not really caring. " Whatever, bloodsuckers." Jane stiffened, looking livid at my word for her, but I continued. " Where the hell am I?"

"Volterra, Italy," Caius told me smoothly, watching my reaction.

My eyes widened. " Don't joke."

"I am one hundred percent serious. I would not have had the technology to heal your injury were we anywhere else."

I looked back down to my stomach and patted it, once again checking for the realness of the healing to disperse. " Oh really...How did you heal that? Did these twins suck out my venom?"

Jane hissed. " Silence, dog. I would never lower myself to that. I would never-"

"No, that is not how you were taken care of, Jacob Black," Caius interuppted smoothly. "I think I should introduce you to the other Ancients. For your safety as well as our own...Trust me, Jacob. Everything will explained once you meet us all."

"The hell I'll meet any more of your kind, parasite! You take me home right now before I-!" I stopped, feeling myself tremble...I expected my body to covulge with phasing. I expected my body to retain heat...but that didn't happen. Instead my heart thudded painfully against my chest and I felt sharp spasms shoot from it...and breathing became difficult. I was gripping my chest, doubled over, closer to my legs then I wanted, trying to calm my own heartbeat.

When I looked back up, Jane and Alec had backed away in the door, looking wary. Only Caius had remained anywhere close to me, a smile forming on his red lips.

I grounded my teeth together as I looked at him. My heartbeat broke through again. I was barely aware that the beeping from the monitor had gotten out of control with my heart rate. My veins tightened around my neck and my temples as I looked at Caius. Each second that passed, more anger pressed into me. I remembered Rachel...and how he had kidnapped her as bait for me. I remembered that black haired demon in the barn that I fought...These things helped contribute to my anger...

Yet I couldn't phase.

"AHH!!!" I yelled, finally throwing myself back on the pillows and panting as a waterfall of sweat went down my face. I opened my eyes and felt my eyes lock on Caius. I noticed that a strange fission of red had gone over my vision...like a long peice of red lightning over both of my eyes. My voice came out a growl. " What did you do to me?"

His smile grew wide, lips curving over his teeth like he was preparing to bite into something meaty...His voice came out hungry, a whisper. " What do you think I did to you? If I could not suck the venom out of you, what do you think I did?"

I panted, my eyes wide, and confused. I shook my head, still not understanding, hating to concede.

"I made your body compatible with the venom...," Caius whispered softly. I froze, becoming as still as a statue as my ears took in what he was saying." I inserted a single chemical compound in your body that made all the difference. It was as easy as slicing through butter, after that, to close the wound. Sadly, it also suppressed the gene that enables your shape shifting."

"AUGH!!" I roared, writhing furiously under the sheets. " You made me compatible with your venom?! I'd rather you killed me!!"

Caius's face darkened at my writhing. In a flash he grabbed my right elbow once, and immediately he recoiled, supporting the right hand he touched me with his other by the wrist. I stared at him. He looked...angry. But I saw a trace of fear and surprise there too. What had happened when he touched me?

His head turned to Jane and Alec who had flitted behind him, ready to..attack me? He looked back at me, an unreadably blank expression on his pale face. " Let us take him to Aro. Perhaps he can see...for himself."

I glared at the three of them, wondering who this Aro was. All three of them had looked a little uneasy as they gazed at me.

Caius spoke first. " If you really want to leave Volterra, Jacob Black. I insist that you meet Aro and Marcus first. They are comrades of mine. They will be the deciding factor."

On whether I lived or died? Hardly. I would rather have died fighting. Killing every single bloodsucker in this room and gone out strong.

But as my mind was set on it, my heart started beating rapidly and the pain shot up it again. What was this? Another product of being treating by bloodthirsty leeches? I grabbed my hospital gown over my chest again and looked at Caius...he was wearing a triumphant look that I snarled at.

He started heading out the door, Alec and Jane lingering for a second to grimace as they followed him. Caius paused at the doorway, gesturing me to follow with a finger.

I seethed and winced at the answering pain in my chest. Calm down...Calm down..You want to leave? Just follow him. They don't find you appetizing...so that's not the worse that could happen. I pulled back the sheets, my eyes never leaving Caius's. I ripped the patches of white paper and wire attached to my chest that allowed the heart monitor to record my heartbeat. Slowly, I swung my legs over the left side of the bed and gingerly touched the cold marble floor with my bare feet. I flinched at the coldness. My temperature must not have changed, because this was like stepping on ice. I waited for my skin to get used to the temperature of the floor before I stood up and looked at Caius in the door frame.

He was definitely taller. This made me feel weird. It would have been nice to be taller to this guy to be able to look down on him at least. His height difference further emphasized the balance of power between us. And how much power he held over me was just pathetic on my part.

I started walking towards him, feeling my hospital gown drop completely and cover my knees. Caius smiled at my concession and he turned briskly out the door, Alec and Jane following his stride easily. I turned the corner, leaving the little medical room behind me.

The hall was unremarkable, an off-white color with the floor carpeted in an industrial gray. Rectangulay fluorescent lights were spaced evenly along the ceiling. It was warmer in this hall then it was in the little room I had just left...which was better for me I guess. I took a whiff of the air, expecting to feel parasite smell everywhere...but I didn't. All I could smell was something clean, like windex had been sprayed just a few seconds ago.

I followed Caius, Alec and Jane to the east part of the hall (if my old room was considered south) where there were two double doors, a clear elevator.

I watched Caius wait expectantly by it. Alec and Jane were already inside it. When I came close, he held it open and entered after me, pressing a button that had us moving down. Alec and Jane were fixed against the right side of the elevator, glaring at me like I was ready to snap at them. I chuckled at that and Jane's eyes narrowed...like she wanted badly to take a swing at me. I leaned against the left side, my arms crossed. Caius had his back to all three of us, waiting for the doors to open. I didn't blame him, the ride was short.

It opened to a very posh reception area. Wood paneled walls, the floor carpeted in green that could have looked like grass from afar. No windows, but large paintings on every wall of the Tuscan countryside. Mimicking what the bloodsuckers could never be seen in. I wanted to laugh at this mockery, but I was tense with rage, that laughing seemed the further thing I was capable of. There was brown leather couches in humble groupings along the walls with side tables that held radiant colored flowers. The strong smell of flowers was reminiscent of bloodsuckers.

In the middle of the room was where I felt my heart skip a beat. There was a high, dark brown counter. And behind it stood a woman with dark skin and green eyes. She was wearing a emerald pantsuit with a deep v-neck. Clearly, a wall street like woman. My own eyes narrowed at the sight of her. What was she doing here? She was human. Was she food? She smiled at Caius, Alec and Jane as all three of them stepped out before I did. When her eyes found me, her polite facade faltered a little in a bit from fright. Maybe the shock on my face came out looking a bit intimidating.

Or maybe she was scared for me. Was I the lunch?

"Gianna," Jane said curtly, walking with Caius towards a set of double doors at the back of the room and I followed, my eyes remaining on this Gianna hard.

On the other side of the doors, my heart skipped a beat again, and this time, it was a little bit painful. I felt my teeth clench while I watched an unhooded cloaked figure approach us. Slicked black hair and black irises...Very thin lips...It was the same prick from the barn. He was wearing a cloak. Just like everyone else in this damn place.

He saw me. Me alone, and his eyes tightened. As he came forward to greet Caius, his black eyes remained on mine.

" Ah, Erebus," Caius said, not deflected at all by the intensity of Erebus's gaze on me. " Jacob. You remember Erebus, don't you?"

My answering snarl didn't come out pleasant. Caius chuckled and Erebus grinned too showing me his razor sharp, ultra white teeth. I wanted to rip him apart right there and then.

These bloodsuckers liked holding all the power.

Now it was a party of five. Caius and Erebus in the lead as they took us down the new hall, stopping halfway and sliding aside a piece of the paneling to expose a plain wooden door. It wasn't locked. Alec stepped forward to hold it open for his...twin. When she stepped in, we all followed, me being the last. I grimaced at Erebus who still kept his black eyes locked on me.

The stone antechamber wasn't very big. It opened quickly into a brighter, cavernous room. Round like a castle turret. It was two stories up, long window slits threw thin rectangles of bright sunlight onto the stone floor below. There were no artificial lights. The only furniture were several massive wooden chairs, like thrones that were spaced unevenly, flush with the curving stone walls. In the very center of the circle, in a slight depression, was another drain. It must have been an exit. Wishful thinking on my part.

The room was almost completely empty. The man who spoke first wore long black robes that fit only to well with the patches of darkness in this tower. He had pitch black hair...he glided towards us, looking like he wasn't walking at all, but floating. His skin was transluscent like Caius's. Sickly smooth, like paper. His eyes were red, brighter then Caius's. Better fed, probably.

He glided to Jane and Alec, kissing Jane on the mouth softly, and then clasping Alec on the shoulder. He turned towards the rest of us and his eyes brightened on Caius and Erebus first.

"Erebus!" His voice was feathery, very light. Like he was constantly just breathing. Not low or menacing enough to be a hiss. His eyes brightened on the hungry vampire infront of me. " I trust you are happy to find your friend awake."

Erebus grimaced at the word "friend". His eyes finally left me to look at this vampire. " I suppose so, Aro."

"Modest as always," Aro said, sighing. He looked at Caius. "You look much more relieved, brother."

"Perhaps, Aro. But that might change...now that he is awake...," I didn't know why he left that sentence hanging. His gaze flickered to me and Aro followed that gaze, his crimson eyes resting on me.

He clapped his papery hands together ecstatically. " Jacob Black!" He said with much enthusiasm. " It is a pleasure at last to make your aquaintance. I must say...You are one of a kind, after all."

My eyes narrowed. I said nothing. He didn't seem to be deflected by that at all. He clapped again and looked away from me towards another patch of darkness to his left.

"Marcus! Harken, Marcus! Our new friend is awake! And well, I assume?" Aro's eyes flickered away from the darkness to my stomach.

Caius answered that. " Yes, the boy has healed quite well."

At that moment, another white haired ancient vampire came gliding towards our party. He looked a lot more like Caius than Aro did, except his eyes, though red, were quite...dead. He looked hollow. His eyes fell on me and I raised an eyebrow. But his expression did not change.

I didn't notice the formation had changed. Caius, Aro and Marcus were infront of me. Erebus was on my left, and the twins on my right. No one behind me. Could I break for it?

"A curious color in his eyes," Aro broke my train of thought. " Strange indeed. I do not remember your werewolves having that color in their eyes, Caius."

His werewolves? I looked at Caius, glaring. Did he bring my Pack here too? Was everything about me being dead, a lie?

Caius didn't look at me, just answered Aro briskly. " Yes. That's what I was curious about. What exactly did the...gene... do to him? I'm sure it made his body linked to the venom like ours. But he didn't exactly change him into one of us. I thought at first it was just his eyes that had adjusted to the transformation...but now.."

At that moment, Caius took Aro's hand rather forcefully. Weird. They were shaking hands like they had just met. But Caius had a look of strained concentration on his face while Aro simply stared back, looking thoughtful.

" Ah...the possibilities. When you touched him, you say?" said Aro. What?

A little late, I realized that Caius had shared his thoughts through touch.

"Perhaps the boy knows. Shall I see?" Aro asked, stepping towards me. Jane stiffened and launched her head forward a little, as if preparing to spring at me. Aro chuckled. " Peace, Jane. I doubt very seriously he can harm me."

Bet I could, bloodsucker. And I hope you hear that.

He reached a hand out for me. " Jacob Black?" His voice came out really awkward, like a kid asking for allowance from his parents. I stared down at the papery hand and took a step back. Aro frowned.

"I don't like touching leeches."

Four growls rumbled in the room. My own included. I tilted my head to the right side and cracked my neck.

"Please. I would just like to greet you the right way, Jacob Black. I shall be desolate if Jane uses her itching desire to wrought destruction on you," Aro told me. I snapped my eyes to the little girl, who smiled evilly at me. She looked no older then fifteen, but she had probably been on this Earth longer. I glared at her with my eyes narrowed.

"Master, let me discipline him." Jane cooed softly to Aro. Aro smiled, and now it was his turn to take a step back.

For a half second, I was frozen, wondering why everyone was seemingly prepared for something big. Then out of nowhere, I felt it. A hundred thousand needles were stabbing every single part of my body. I felt a yell escape my lips as I writhed against the stone floor, feeling shock and white hot fire lick my insides, burning every nerve in its flames. I tried to open my eyes against it, but I couldn't. The needles came in and out, in and out, in and out.

"Jane," Someone's feathery voice said from far away.

The pain stopped, but the aftershock was pretty bad. I was on my back, cringing, rolled like a ball, trying to allow the icy cold from the cold stone numb the pain. I opened my eyes...All six vampires were still standing, all facing me. Caius was smiling..and so was Aro. They all looked like they had just watched a pleasant ending to a happy movie.

I groaned, placing my palms flat against the stone and raising myself to my knees so that I could stand. Aro glided to me, Jane following close behind with a sadistic smile on her face. Aro's right hand extended like whatever happened, didn't exist. I hesitated before slowly drawing my hand up to his and grasping it. The coldness caught me off guard, but I didn't flinch. But as his eyes bored into mine, I knew he was not only hearing what I was thinking then...but he was hearing and seeing every thought I ever had. It felt like he was slowly sucking it out of me, like I wouldn't remember whatever he pulled out.

And then after a second or two, I felt something of my own...It was subtle at first...but I knew where it was.

It was in Aro..right in his chest. His heart...right infront of it, was something of my own. A little ball...I couldn't see it, so I placed a picture to it in my own mind, an orange something, slowly revolving, generating lightning to every part of his body. Lightning...and that lightning represented whatever was saturating his cells. I gripped down on his cold hand harder, and that's when my little oval of light flickered. I could control it.

My fingers flexed slowly, and the little oval of energy grew with the expanding of my fingers.

His voice was soft, only for me. " Stop."

I didn't. The oval of energy grew, it began sucking up like a big balloon, growing bigger with whatever I was draining him of. Slowly, the paleness of Aro's face receded. First it turned a sickly, sea green color. But then I noticed it became white again..and then gray...Wrinkles started stretching his face. I saw holes forming beneath his cheekbones. I held onto my little oval, letting it grow, bigger...until it was the size of a baseball next to his heart.

And his heart, his dead, frozen, vampire heart started taking off like helicopter blades.

Now they heard it too. The other five stepped forward, all lowered into crouches while I gripped the master hand as tight as I could.

"BLACK! Let him go!" Caius hissed furiously.

Needles again. That got me. I released Aro and felt him gasp as he fell backwards, clutching the heart that slowly began to freeze again. I didn't get to see the color return to his skin, but I knew it probably did. Instead, I was writhing on the ground again. This pain was ten times the one I had just experienced. She was punishing me for hurting her master. Something no one had probably ever managed to do. I writhed and tried to resist screaming under the needles, but was unable too.

"Enough, Jane," A silky voice said. Caius.

Once again, I used the cold from the stone to help numb the after effect of the pain. It didn't really do much. I could still feel a ghost of the needles piercing every part of my flesh.

I rolled onto my front and once again, pulled myself to my feet and faced the vampires. Aro was slightly crouched while Marcus held onto his arms to support his weight. The color had returned to his skin and he looked like before, except there was something sunken in his eyes as he looked at me. I was surprised to see him smiling.

"That was fascinating," Aro breathed. He stood upright and was only a little unsteady as he approached me, but didn't touch me. " Well Caius...I think we have found what you were curious about."

"What's that?" Caius answered, looking at me with intense eyes.

"Quite simply. This boy can Drain. He has a Drain touch...He was able to suction the venom out of my body and bring it to a single point. Amazing really...I could feel the humanity from it!"

I froze, taken aback by his assessment. So that's what I was doing...that's what the oval was doing. Draining him. But I wondered, if I got it big enough and kept a hold on and then let go, wouldn't it explode? If I let it explode...that would have killed him. Some part of my brain connected that. The leech would have died so very easily if I had held on long enough for my draining oval to get the right size and break before the wench used her little pain power on me.

Caius, Erebus, Jane and Alec didn't look amazed by this new information The opposite really. Marcus looked rather apathetic.

"His hatred for our kind runs deep. I see why now. Our Cullen friend was not the only one after Miss Swan's heart," Aro whispered, getting out of Marcus's grip and grinning at me. He didn't look weakened at all now. I flinched at the word Swan. They had met with Bella. Of course. Now I remembered who they were. The coven that seemingly excercised the control over all Vampires. The biggest and most powerful coven, Bella had said.

"That hatred manifested with the venom that is now compatible with his bloodstream...A strong weapon against any vampire, I should say!" Aro said delightedly, clapping his hands together. Though they shook a little and I smiled.

"Hardly," Erebus spat from behind Aro. He glared at me with revulsion. " If he expands on this, a little tantrum could trigger the death of our whole guard."

"Then we should be cautious, Erebus. Not to get a tantrum out of our new friend.," Aro's eyes were hungry now. I knew now...I wasn't getting out of here at all. It was a fight. And now that I knew what my weapons were, I'd have get a grip on every one of these leeches to get a free run to the exit, wherever that was. Aro took another step towards me, and Jane did too behind him.

"Jacob Black," He said my name with reverance worthy of one talking to a God. " How would you like to join the Volturi coven? A well compensation. I daresay your Drain touch is reserved solely for the, ah, bloodsuckers you set so much hate for."

I flinched at his words. So everything I touched would have me draining them? No, this wasn't true. I chose to find the control over the little oval. I could have controlled whether I had wanted to have this leech drained...and I did want him drained. I wanted him dead like every other parasite in this room.

"Ah, Aro," Caius's voice rang out triumphant. I looked over Aro's shoulder at him, and he was smiling quite victoriously. " There is no need to bargain with him."

Aro tilted his head in Caius's direction, raising a perfect eyebrow in clear confusion. "Why say that, brother?

Caius delved his hand into his cloak and he pulled something black out. It was long and thin, but even from my distance from him, I saw that there was a red button at the top. He pressed down, not on the button, but perhaps a switch on the side. Everything went silent and still.

I heard a steady beeping sound...and my eyes whirled around the room hard for the source. It wasn't far away...it was right in my ear...no...a little further down. I looked down and suddenly my hands found the part of my gown in front of my chest. I grabbed it, and the beeping became a little bit louder. Aro's smile was wide when I looked up at him, and Caius's was even wider.

"Your wound may be closed, thanks to something to make your body able to deal with vampire venom. But that shouldn't suggest that our venom is completely natural to you. One press of this button...and that phial I tied, dangling next to your heart, will be fit to burst. I placed a chip inside the phial that will combust it if you...let us say, overexert yourself," Caius whispered in one breath. I stared at him, horror-struck. "Lifeless as a doll in less then a fourth of a second...."

The smile on his face mirrored on everyone's face but Marcus's and mine. I snarled.

"This was your plan all along," I spat at Caius. " You didn't care what I could do, so long as I was forced to comply with joining your coven."

"Don't act like this isn't what you want at least in the partial sense, Jacob Black," Caius hissed back. " You wanted to destroy the Cullens."

Aro spoke before I could. " You want to destroy Edward Cullen in particular. Now's your chance, Jacob...With the greatest weapon you have. Why not expand your glorious talent? Make it bigger...practice will perfect it. And you, my boy. You could have revenge."

Just as he spoke the word revenge, my internal organs gave a squirm of pleasure. An unnamed beast roared its approval of Aro's words. The beast soared to my head and I had to blink to see. A line of red lightning seared through my line of sight again. I could feel them burning with my body. The pain of Jane's attack was flooded out and the overwhelming want...of death was on my mind.

Hmm. Aro didn't read everything in my head. I prevented that with my strange ability. But he could feel the intensity of my hatred for Edward and the rest of the Cullens.. I prayed he didn't see Bella, pregnant as I last remembered her. Vulnerable.

Revenge sounded so good right now. The urge to kill..Edward...was overwhelming. It filled my head with different images of his death, how I could picture it...I wanted to dance with the flames the burned him.

And thinking of Bella and her last minutes only made this desire stronger...justified. This leech did not belong here. He was not a natural course of life. And I was. I was normal...I was in the right time. Bella would be mine right now...and I wouldn't be here.

I wouldn't have the ability to kill Vampires.

Edward was right. I was a rising tide on the ocean. One that would overwhelm him in waves and waves and never relent.

So long as Cullen was destroyed. I didn't really care about their dangling threat...at least satisfaction would be mine.

" One month...," Aro continued while I pondered all of that in a few seconds. The red line in my eyes slowly quelled with my calm. I tried to think of what would happen in a month, and I remembered what Caius told me in the barn. About them going back to Forks to kill the entire Cullen coven. The beast in me rejoiced at these thoughts, knowing Cullen and his family would soon be dead. The beast found pure pleasure in just my painted mental picture of Cullen's remains burning in a pile somewhere outside that pathetic manor in the forest.

But my voice came out gritted and strained, and I didn't know why. " All right..."

Aro's red eyes brightened. " Very good, boy."

Strain again, from nowhere. " I don't have much of a choice, do I?"

" Not unless you prefer death," Caius chimed coolly. He shared a laugh with Erebus and Alec. Jane fixed her eyes on mine, looking livid, ready to strike again with that painful ability.

I wondered if I could kill her without touching her. The fiend inside me cheered at that idea.

"That I don't care about," Instinct was pouring out of me, drowning out reason. I liked what I was saying. " Kill me if you wish. I know what I want...and I know what I'll do to get it."

Caius's eyes gleamed. He liked this animal side of me. " Then let us begin our practice immediately."


	8. Chapter 8

"I'd like to test Black's ability, Caius. On perhaps...an inferior race,"

We all looked at him with raised eyebrows, except for Marcus, of course. It was Caius who spoke first. " What do you mean, Aro?"

"A human...I want to see what happens to the human. If he can bring our venom to a certain point, surely there is something different with the human species...or even the werewolves! It should be most interesting to see," Aro looked disgustingly happy at this thought. It must have shown on my face how repulsive he was to me, because his smile grew wider at my dismay.

"Jane," Caius abruptly said without looking away from me. The little girl stepped forward, malevolently glaring at me with a smile. "go fetch Gianna."

"How unfortunate, Caius. She was growing on me," Aro said in a truly regretful voice as Jane stalked passed me, ramming my shoulder and sending a thrill of shock through my left side. I heard her heels against the floor as she retreated to the previous room.

"WHOA!" I said when I clicked two and two together. As I stepped towards the Ancients in two long strides, Erebus placed a cold flat palm on my chest, but I pushed against it, not taking my eyes off Aro and Caius. " I'm not hurting that...secretary lady. No way. You can take your freak show somewhere else, bloodsuckers. I'm NOT complying with this."

"Maybe it would be more prudent for Erebus to handle this," Aro suggested. I shot a glance at the hungry vampire who look at me in a speculative sort of way.

"Too late," Caius said when Jane had returned. Behind her was the sound of heels hitting stone. I knew the human secretary was here. My eyes flashed and I took a step back ,nearly catching Jane off guard, but she twirled around me and avoided contact with my skin. I stayed locked on Caius, my lips set.

"I'm not going to kill her," I snarled.

"Keep telling yourself that, and maybe it'll be true. We just want to see the effect...if anything should go wrong...," Caius drew close to Gianna as she turned her back on him. He raised a hand to her throat and pulled her hair back. I watched her shudder from the cold touch. My muscles tightened, my nails digging into my palm. "She'll be fine...She'll get her wish. This is why she is here, after all."

They knew...this new power was just evident even to me. I had no control. I could so easily..kill. And that's what they wanted.

This woman wanted to become a vampire. I supposed that made sense as to why she was here. But why someone was hoping to become a bloodsucker was beyond me. I mean, Bella did it...just to be with Edward. Why did this woman want to become a nasty parasite?

So killing her wasn't a problem to them. It was something she wanted.  
"No," I said firmly, another step back.

"Gianna," Aro said gently, taking her hand and kissing it. She blushed. " We're going to step away while you speak to this boy. He's going to try something dear. Whatever you feel, I want you to tell us, okay?"

"I'M NOT DOING THIS!" I practically roared, but no one heard me. The woman named Gianna just stared at me, then nodded to Aro obediently.

Caius whipped around his guard, striding fast towards me. He drew close taking a handfull of my gown in both of his hands, pulling me closer to him effortless. I inhaled a gust of too-sweet air. Once upon a time, this smell burned my nostrils. But now...it was pretty faint, tolerable. I hated that. The tolerable part at least. He bared his razor sharp teeth at me.

" Unless you want to die, I suggest you listen to every word...every single sound that comes out of my mouth," Caius hissed in my face.

"I don't care about your threats. Damn your curiosity, bloodsucker. I'm not killing the innocent."  
Caius snarled, baring his teeth to the fullest extent. It wouldn't take much for that to rip into my skin at his speed. The question was: Would I be able to move in time? But he was rational enough to speak again. " I set much more store by your life then I do hers, Jacob Black. Do not force yourself to die for an insiginificant human. If it goes to far, I promise you...I will stop it."

"I don't believe you," I stated bluntly. " You'll let her die."

"You have my word."

"And that is dirt on the ground to me. What have you done to earn my trust?" I growled back.

"Nothing. But the reason you're alive right now is because of me. Do as I say and everything will be fine. I don't want to put you through a painful death, Jacob, but I will. I believe if you truly try not to kill her, you will succeed."

"Where does this confidence in me come from?" I asked, searching his unreadable expression for the answers.

Caius laughed and released me, letting my feet hit the cold floor. " She's disposable to me, Jacob Black. To you, she's not. It's all in what you do."

The Volturi backed away into the darkness...and I saw nothing but the slightly frail human in front of me. Each second my eyes stayed on her, I realized that this woman might go home to family...children...a husband...she might have a sick mother or a dying pet. It didn't matter. She might have a life. My eyes filled with pity, and I quelled the bloodthirsty beast inside of me, that was aching for me to kill her.

"If I told you to run," My willpower was crumbling...this beast wanted me to test my Draining power. I had very little time. " would you be able to make it without getting hurt?"

"Are you going to hurt me?" She asked in a shaky voice.

I didn't know how to answer that. But I gave it a shot.

" What I'm going to do is going to hurt you. But I'm going to stop myself from...killing you," I said in a strained voice. I realized the strain was coming from my own sanity that I was trying to preserve. Animal instincts were starting to creep on me...she was prey and I was a predator...and it was starting to drown out all reason.

"Why?" She asked quietly.

The plea in her voice had me human enough to answer. My voice came out cracked, like I was close to tears..and maybe I was...I didn't know anymore." I don't know."

"You don't have to do this," She said and my eyes tightened. Her voice became a squeal. " Please. You don't want to do this."

"I know...but I'm here for the same reasons that you are. I'm standing here for the same reason you haven't moved." It was a pretty bad excuse, but the truth nevertheless.

She took a step towards me and I wished the step was a getaway. But she seemed to be reaching for me...trying to comfort me. I instinctively took a step towards her too, but my motivations were not as tender as hers were. I flinched at the growl rumbling low in my chest, ready to burst.

If I was still a wolf, then this would be when I phased. But I was working to steady my heartbeat which began to thud painfully in my chest. I wasn't thirsty for her like a bloodsucker, I was hungry. I wanted to kill her...There was no reason why...other than my own desire. Like a vampire's lust for blood, I had a lust for death...

And I was too new at this to give it an ounce of control. My mind was only stronger then my automated instinct, but only just.

"Please run away,'' I said, barely above a whisper. Though I wasn't sure she heard me. She took another step towards me. And that's when nothing mattered. My mouth filled with blood and bile...I hadn't realized my teeth were cutting into my tongue, but they were.

I felt it. The oval...the circle..the ball inside her, burning. No touch required. It was quiet now, waiting for my move. She froze, her hands over her heart. She wasn't in pain. Not yet anyway. She clutched at her chest while I watched her, wondering where this burning sensation was coming from. The oval began to revolve impatiently. I raised my right fist towards her, level to where I knew the ball would be.

The revolving slowed, but I slowly closed my eyes in concentration, placing a mental picture in my head again. Flowing electricity that was saturating her cells.

Slowly, I began to uncurl my fingers. Blood ran down my palm from how hard I was pressing down with my nails. She let out a scream that I ignored. The monster inside me expanded the oval, pulling every little atom it could gets its grubby little hands on.

"OH!!" She screamed. I opened my eyes and realized everything was a haze of red. The shock of that would have had me release her, but the beast was controlling my every movement. She was grabbing at her neck, clutching down her chest. There was no outward fire to see...The fire was inside. She was burning...I knew it more then she did.

"I'm on fire! STOP PLEASE!" She screamed again. Her skin was paling..Her eyes were starting to whiten. My eyebrows were furrowed in concentration.

_Enough._ My mind snarled. _Enough. You've done enough._

The furious beast didn't like my resistance. The woman had fallen forward on her knees, screaming. The sound sent shooting spasms of pain in my chest. The fiend pulled at the oval while I helped.

_Just take her out of her misery. Why be subtle about it?_

I walked towards her and looked down at her writhing figure with not a sign of remorse on my face. She wanted to become a bloodsucker. That's why she was here. It didn't matter if she had a family or a life outside work. The fact that she stood her ground and didn't at least try to run when I gave her the chance too showed me something. That this woman would have died to become a bloodsucker.

The beast roared in fury in my chest. I agreed with its rage. A vampire's life was worse than death. And that's what she wanted to become.

Not on my watch.

I curled my hand back into a fist and the oval receded for one second. In that second, she looked up at me, tears in her eyes. I felt my face stretch into a smile before my fingers shot out.

She let out, not a scream, but a bloodcurdling cry of agony. I felt the fire burn every single pore in her body. She threw herself onto her back against the stone, twitching once before I watched her skin change into a crimson red. She rolled onto her stomach, letting out her last cry of pain before I heard a tear of clothing and the leak of blood onto stone...trickling...trickling.

I looked away from her, the haze of red not leaving my eyes...Pain flooded my whole body...and I felt my own tears prickle my eye lids. My heartbeat fluttered unevenly and I clutched at my gown, still not looking at the body. The crimson taint on my eyes was fading back to normal with the water in my eyes.

_What had I done?_

The room was suddenly full of parasites again. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the pale white crouching over my mutilated result. A satisfied smile. Aro lingered there while Caius stepped over Gianna's body and approached me. He placed his hands on my shoulders while I refused to look anywhere near him.

"You did the right thing, Jacob. You acted on impulse. That's exactly what I wanted out of you."

"You wanted breakfast, you sick parasite," I snarled back, and the increase in my heartbet left me gasping once.

"Haha...Aro...What's the verdict?" Caius said with a humorless chuckle. I could feel that his eyes hadn't left my face.

"He imploded her heart. It seems Gianna was not able to get her wish out of this ordeal," Aro's feathery voice said from my right. I shuddered and winced from these casual words.

" What did you do to me?" This time I was able to look at Caius, glaring into his flaming eyes. " What did you put inside of me?"

"Are you referring to the substance I injected into your cells to make you compatible with our venom?" He asked. I didn't answer. I just waited for him to answer.

" It is something that we do not use often. For you see, it is a poison to us, the same as our venom is to you. Although you were compatible with it. It forced the venom to co-exist in your bloodstream. Nothing more."

"You're lying!" I growled. " That's not all it did. I killed that woman with that stupid Draining crap! WHAT DID YOU PUT IN ME?!"

" The devil gene," He whispered. Normal human ears wouldn't have heard him, but I knew that every single bloodsucker in this room understood what Caius just said. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Aro stand and look wary next to Gianna's body.

"Devil gene," I repeated with a snort. " Corny name."

"Yes...It's not a gene. It's a substance. But it attaches to your DNA and RNA...Like a very strong virus. It was able to bring out your strongest quality. Were you just a human with vampire venom, you might have had a lesser ability. But the devil gene enhanced whatever the venom would have brought out in a newborn vampire. So far you are the only test subject to have survived the devil gene."

"Test subject," I snarled. Rage pumped my veins...the fiend inside wanted to see this parasite dead...now. But it was Aro's feathery voice that broke me out of my murderous stupor.

"You are perhaps the most valuable object we have ever seen, Jacob Black. Be proud...you should be. You have the ability to kill what you hate the most."

"I should kill you all with it," I growled, unabashed.

Aro and Caius laughed. Caius released my shoulders and stepped away.

"Perhaps you will one day."

"I will. Count on that. You have no defense against something you haven't combated before. Who's to say I won't go out of control with this? You saw what happened to your secretary," I winced, hating to use her as an example, still so unable to look at her and hating the words that were coming out of my mouth. " I didn't even have to touch her."

That got them. The sincerity of my words. My strongest ability was built from my hatred for their kind. They knew I wouldn't hesitated to kill them both. I knew what was coming though. Caius drew out the detonator that would trigger my instant death. He smiled and so did I.

" Let's be careful, Jacob Black. An hour old and already dead. I hate to think of the shape shifter I'll drag out of La Push as your replacement."

I let out a roar of fury that had nothing to do with the beast inside of me. " YOU WOULDN'T!"

Caius laughed. " I would. I'd get the whole lot of them and breed a nice addition to the Volturi guard."

My eyes took in a haze of red...but something of this concentration must have showed on my face, because I heard Aro's voice shout to something in the dark. " Erebus! Take the boy outside! Control him!"

I felt cold hands grab my shoulders and wheel me around. My haze of red didn't relent. The monster was yearning...pleading with me to end Caius's "life". It was irrational..not understanding that it would die with me as soon as I made the attempt. I was taken through the double wooden doors, not able to even take a glance over my shoulder at the Ancients that had taunted me so.

I was pushed into a leather couch. My eyes fluttered to the empty reception desk where Gianna once sat. Pity and misery flooded through me, breaking the walls of monstrous greed. I rested my elbows on my thighs and covered my face with my hands.

"What have I done?" I heard myself say. " What did I do?"

"What you were meant to do...," I heard a quiet voice say. I looked up and saw Erebus a few feet above me, watching me with...not so much as a hungry expression, but a thoughtful frown.

"I killed her for no reason...Just because they wanted to see what would happen...She could have had a family..children...and I took her away from that." I cried, grabbing two fistfulls of my hair and feeling my body cringe at the thought of little dark skinned children returning home from school, expecting a meal that would never be cooked. A husband walking into his home, expecting a welcome home kiss that he would never receive.

"She had nothing to lose, Black," Erebus answered me in a silky voice. I didn't look up again. " But I think you knew that. That's why you kept going."

I did look up at this, glaring at his eyes. " I had no control over myself."

" There is always control," He answered calmly, placing a long white finger over his chin. He took a seat on the coffee table so that we were at least level with one another. " You knew when to stop with Aro...and you knew when to stop with the human. But you didn't. You kept going...Your hatred for our kind overwhelmed you...and that latter part of your brain that holds that hatred took control."

Damn him. He was dead on. He must have been another mind reader like Edward. "What? How do you know all that?"

"Because I know you," He told me. " I know you all too well. I was sent to watch you for three weeks before Caius made his move. To see your movements...Learn your...heart's desire."

I stared at him. He had gotten slow on heart's desire. And something in my head clicked a past incident to the present.

"It was you in the forest...I didn't see you...but you made Bella appear...That's why the bloodsucker called me a second later,"

He didn't deny it. I felt rage pour in me, but I was able to speak in a somewhat calm voice. " You knew Bella was the only one I would follow."

He opened his mouth to protest that and I snarled. But I let him give me my owed explanation. " I showed you your heart's desire. After I get close enough to a person, I'm able to see who is the most important person to them. I get a mental picture that I can project....for an indefinite amount of time."

He raised his white hands to the space between us. And clear as day, she started forming. First the snow boots...the khaki pants...followed by the blue t-shirt overshadowed by a brown jacket. A faint pink touched Bella's cheeks as she placed her hands on her hips and bent towards me with a pouty face. I reached out and touched her. My heart skipped a beat when I realized she was completely tangible. Her skin felt so warm.

Erebus spoke through that. " I knew you were the one Caius wanted. No one has ever questioned what I give them to see. But you were able to break my projection when you realized it wasn't real. Most stay in the dream...bask in it...you were able to realize that she was not there."

I continued staring into Bella's face, but after a second, I managed to look to the side, away from her, dropping my hand. " She was never _mine_ to claim. That's what I've always known. He was always one step ahead of me."

Erebus thought about this. The projection of Bella continued reaching for me, but I didn't want to touch her. " Yet even as I look at you now, she is still your heart's desire. You still want her. Your bond with that girl was very strong, I noted that."

"What, you were controlling what she said and did too, to test that notation?" I retorted, still looking fixedly at the leather on the seat next to mine.

"She said and did whatever you remembered...from your subconscious. I have no control over that unless I need to control it. If say, to fool the enemy into not hurting me...I can do that. In your case, there was only my projection needed. I didn't even need to take it from you. You knew that by yourself."

"Could you make her stay with me?" Even to me, my voice sounded sad, hopeless. It sounded pathetic..that I still wanted Bella. That I'd take a Bella that wasn't even real.

" Indefinitely, but you'd know she wasn't yours...and once again, the illusion would go."

Even as he said it, Bella flickered. I reached for her one more time and she smiled, holding onto me.I closed my eyes and felt her weight disappear just like it had done in the forest. She shattered like glass and dispersed into nothing. The glow she brought had evaporated and I was left looking at Erebus with a dead look in my eyes.

"It is for her...that your heart suffers," Erebus noted.

"I wouldn't blame her," I told him quietly. Why was it easy to talk to this bloodsucker? I didn't know. He didn't ring out hositility like the Ancients. He was truly curious, maybe remorseful about me. " I'd blame myself. I put myself through this pain."

"...Your anger was justified by the intensity of your feelings for her. You did as you thought best. Why look back and regret now? There is nothing we can do about the past-"

"But regret it. At first I looked back on the day her killer spawn was born...and I regretted overreacting. And then I looked at the bigger picture.. It was a mistake to pursue her and hope for her to love me from day one. I don't regret loving her...I regret hoping...You don't know the warmth that her presence brought me every time I saw her. Every time she saw me, she looked at me like the sun was shining in her world. Even when things got as craptastic as they could go," I felt my voice break with the memory of Bella's labor.

"No regrets, Jacob Black. You're right to blame yourself...but also know that you came this far...and what happened, has happened in a way that can't be undone. Do you know why? You are still alive. Marginally different from what you remember, but you are alive...and that means your purpose has to be fulfilled. Your feelings for the Cullen family won't change...so then act upon it. Are you afraid?" He sounded amused by this. I must not have looked like a person who looked afraid very often...and I wasn't afraid, that wasn't it.

"I just don't want to hurt her," I said softly.

" It's too late for that...She thinks your dead, Black. By the time we get there. It's doubtful you'll even see her in the fray."

"She doesn't mourn me. She's one of you now. She doesn't care if another werewolf is dead," I said in a hollow voice. "Is there a way not to fight Bella there?"

"I don't think you realize something, Jacob," He got up and sat next to me, but didn't look at me. Instead he leaned back. " The creating of an Immortal Child is a high crime in our culture. For you have taken the life of something so innocent, so pure...something that did not have the choice to become what it did. Your Cullens have done the highest treason...and it is for that, that they all must die."

An immortal child. So that's what the killer spawn was.

Edward Cullen had doomed his entire family.

" I demand to be on the front line," I said. Erebus chuckled, seeming to sense where my thoughts had gone.  
" I think practice makes perfect on your ability first. Let us clear this room. Practice with me...There shall be no harm done on what is not real...just pretend that they are real...and the illusion will stay." Erebus stood up, and I felt a red flicker in my vision for a moment.

"We're not using Bella. Projection or not," I snarled.

"Of course not. Heart's desire is not the only thing I can project, boy. Come," Erebus picked up the coffee table with one hand and placed it against the counter. He walked away from me, towards the other couch where there was five foot distance between us. "You want in on this number? Then show me your moves."

He raised both of his hands, flat against the air...like he was a mime touching an invisible glass wall. I saw him close his eyes...The air moistened like airplane fuel had touched it...I watched slowly, as a blonde haired, red eyed man rose from the moisture. He looked at me with hungry eyes, ready to pounce on me.

I glared right back at the leech. He lurched forward in to a crouch, preparing to spring at me. I looked back at him...readying myself.

It was mostly Erebus I was speaking to. " Think you can keep up?"

Erebus smiled and nodded to his little practice "dummy" for me. He lunged at me tauntingly and I shot a step backwards. He began to circle me to the right, so I went in step with him...We looked like predator and prey, except I wasn't sure which was which in this circumstance. His lips curled back over his teeth, his eyes had widened with thirst.

He lunged again and had me by the shoulders. We, or basically just me, fell into the tilted coffee table. He sunk his nails into my shoulders but the pain that caused was insignificant. I felt my eyes haze...and I knew what I was doing. The oval was there with me...Right infront of his heart. I noted it was a bit more difficult to expand it, to suck the venom into a single part of his body...then it was with Gianna. I pushed him off of me with ease, and rose, watching him recoil with losing his greatest weapon. He tried to lunge at me again, but I expanded my ball of his venom intensely. He fell to his knees and into my chest. I didn't grab him or remotely try to touch him. I just focused all of my energy into what I was taking from him.

I didn't expect Erebus to step in.

"Hold onto him. Now try me," Erebus said, standing next to his projection of the Newborn. I shot a glare at his direction, my brow furrowed in concentration. The beast inside me roared..taking pure pleasure at the added victim. I shook the monster out, looking at Erebus incredulously.

"I can't," I said.

"Try," He responded calmly. " Abate your heart beat. Try...Focus everything you have," Erebus insisted. He calmly placed his hands behind him and closed his eyes, waiting for the blow. Try, he said...fine.  
I felt my right eye close and my left squint. The newborn choked...I saw a tan color replace the paleness in his face. The tan...more humane color. He gasped at me, pleading me with his eyes to stop the pain I was causing him.

My whole body started shaking as I tried to keep the oval in the newborn steady, while searching for the one in Erebus. He only waited...watched me...

I groaned from the effort. My forehead took on perspiration for the effort, but I kept my hold. It faltered slightly as the newborn exhaled, but then I found what I was looking for in Erebus. He winced and grabbed his chest. I saw color leave his face. And simultaneously, I saw the red leave the newborn's eyes.  
My fists were clenched to my sides tight as they could go. Each hand was separate for the newborn and Erebus. I opened my right first and that's when the elastic band around the oval in the newborn's heart burst open. As quiet as a flower blossoming, but as deadly as an explosion combusting. The newborn screeched, taking on a faint pink color, then a red and finally as the venom I managed to contain burst from the oval.... he rolled over onto his side, battered..yet the right color for a corpse. The right human color.

"But I'll kill you," I managed to say to Erebus, as all of my focus shifted to him. Once again, my mind was being taken over...I couldn't even see through the foggy cloud of red in my eyes. Erebus clutched his chest, not falling to his knees weakly like the newborn had...I saw his pitch black eyes recede into a very soft blue color as he stared at me. He was holding his ground...and I wondered if he was fighting my Drain...because I couldn't feel it...

"No you won't...Nice...and easy," Erebus whispered to me in a strained voice. He shut his lips together nice and tight and raised his head. " Nice and easy...Focus, Jacob Black."

Easy for you to say, you don't have some demon in you trying to shove out your reason.

"I can't," I said in a voice that matched his strain. The demon roared, pulling at the elasticity of my oval, trying to suction it all out. It knew now that this was real, no projection...and that made it all the more hungry for the death of this bloodsucker.

No...I can't.

"Nice and easy, Jacob," Erebus whispered. He looked close to human..I saw a tan color return to his face and a red blush to his cheeks...the red coming obviously from his effort to fight me off...If I touched him, he'd be soft as a pillow.

Easy to kill.

I closed my eyes and felt a jolt. Bella's face was there for a millisecond...and that's all it took for my heart to skip a beat.

I slowly uncoiled my fist and practically felt the venom return to its source in Erebus's body. I didn't open my eyes, I wasn't touching him, but I could feel that he had relaxed.

His voice came out slightly breathless. " You are quite...remarkable. I see absolute control of this is not far in your future...In just days, you may perfect this...I count on that."

"Whatever you say, bloodsucker," I opened my eyes and saw him standing with his back to me, still clutching his chest. He inclined his head to the side, in my direction and I noticed that the paleness had returned. He'd probably be as hard as marble now.

"I could have danced all night," I said, unable to suppress my smugness despite the heavy weight in my heart..

Erebus chortled." Practice makes perfection...Four weeks, Jacob. Let's make them count...You'll get your just reward."


	9. Chapter 9

Days were starting to turn into numbers for me.

I didn't sleep soundly. Every single day, the murders grew. Somehow, the projections that Erebus made for me were starting to wear thin with Caius. He'd rather have me killing the real thing. Every three days, I was brought a fresh newborn...shuddering because each day they got younger and younger.

My first victim was a man in probably his thirties. Red eyes...my scent didn't appeal to him at all, but he understood me to be his enemy. When I drained him, I saw for the first time, the completion of my ability on a vampire. I watched his skin recede into his cheekbones...watched his face gaunt. Watched blood break out of his nose, his mouth, his ears...every outlet. And then I felt the racing heartbeat explode under my touch.

From there, Caius brought in new meat. Younger...The last day was a little girl. With a laugh, Caius told me that she was going to die no matter what I did. She was an immortal child...and she had no place within the Vampire's world.

I noticed...this girl didn't have the look of Edward's spawn. This one had crimson red eyes...no older then two. Even for that young, she was undoubtedly beautiful. Small with golden curls in her hair, that were all over her face. Her hair was sunshine, pure sunshine. She had the most adorable face I had ever seen...but as she looked at me, a vicious smile lit her lips...and her tongue lolled out from thirst, like a hungry beast.

It didn't take me two seconds to take her life. Caius's eyes stayed on my face, watching for any flicker of emotion...There was none.

After she fell, he told me that this was my final test. That there was no hesitation in me. No human, for that matter. I didn't even know what to think to these words. They were wrong. What I was doing, I believed to be right. To be purifying. A newborn monster acting on instinct had no place here. Neither did Edward.

Caius had new orders for Erebus and I...the departure for Washington was in two days...and Erebus and I were setting off early to get the location of the Cullen home. I knew exactly where it was and so did Erebus. It was our job to get a perfect set of geographical coordinates for the rest of the Coven...I didn't really disagree. Secretly, I wanted to see something. Something I'd never think to see.

Caius had handed the detonator to the phial wrapped around my heart to Erebus. If I were to act out of line, one press of the button would send convulsions through me. Caius's leash...handed off to another bloodsucker.

What do you think about imprisonment?

When you're getting what you want most in the end...does it really matter if your life is dangling in front of you?

I didn't care. Just like I said the first time. It really didn't matter to me if they were going to dangle my life in front of my eyes...They needed me...and I sensed that. All this training meant something. I would be their puppy.

Maybe I had a backup plan. Not touching Aro was key to that...but after Edward was taken care of, the detonator was key.

That night, Caius invited me into his chamber...private chamber. It was a lavish room adorned in red and gold. His theme was those colors and he looked uncharacteristically dark, despite his paleness, in the midst of it all. I blamed the dark black robes. The robes that I wore now too. He was looking at himself in the human sized mirror, hands curled together in front of him. Behind him was a huge bed that had a shiny red and gold comforter...useless to everyone that resided here.

"Ah, Jacob, come here," Caius said, his reflection gesturing me over to his back.

I cautiously took a step forward. Caius's reflection laughed at me. "I won't bite, Jacob...You needn't be so wary."

"On the contrary...I can kill you as easily as you can kill me," I reminded him, tilting my head. My reflection copied the motion. I wasn't quite used to how I looked now...I had spider leg-like veins cropping out of my eyes, as if my eyes had been splattered with blood. And my eyes themselves weren't the black I was used too...but a deep maroon. It wasn't like the newborns or any vampire I'd ever laid eyes on. It was much darker then that...and within the center of each pupil, I saw a strange orange electrical current. I knew this was the thing that took over my vision whenever instinct poured into me. I was still as tall as I once was...nothing had changed. Caius believed the vampire venom gave me special traits along with the newfound ability. He thought that I would live forever, like they had...if I didn't die by the venom he had put next to my heart. I didn't believe that...but Caius was convinced that the wolf gene had been completely destroyed, as if it hadn't been there at all.

Of course...that meant that I was more human then I would have ever imagined retaining in my future...and that was a little advantage in a flood of disadvantages.

I had no future.

"True...but who knows how long I would need to curl my hand on the red button to stop you altogether? I keep it with me at all times, Jacob...And you would end up on the losing side. I would win...and you would die," Caius told me, flashing a brilliant smile. I wanted to grab either side of his mouth and pull as hard as I could. Would he rip apart like fabric? Straight up? Funny sight.

He turned to face me fully. "On to more serious matters..."

Did he think I wasn't serious? I didn't make death threats lightly. I smiled at him. And he continued smiling like he knew exactly what I was thinking.

"It's a hoax, Jacob. Aro needs only touch either Erebus or you to find out the location of the Cullens. Why would we send you there to tell us where they are, when you could lead us there?"

I hadn't considered that. That made the Volturi and I look stupid. Until I realized he had said hoax. No, there was a higher purpose in going to Forks early. I waited.

"War starting early?" I asked him. He shook his head, and then looked thoughtful.

"Not quite..Not with whom you want anyway. You'll have to wait for us...," Caius said softly, not smiling now. He turned around and approached me, standing four feet away. "I need you on another front."

"Another front...," I stared at him for the longest time, holding his gaze. He didn't elaborate. As always, he waited for me to figure it out for myself. It clicked together...and I couldn't help feeling like I didn't see it coming. I didn't even feel my heartbeat race...or my blood burn...I just knew what he was wordlessly asking...

Asking was a stupid word. He was demanding...he was forcing this on me.

"You want me to destroy the La Push Pack," I stated quietly, working to keep my voice expressionless.

Caius watched my face for the longest time. I didn't betray anything. He smiled again. "Precisely. You see, I understand that we aren't the only thing on the Cullens' plate...and they have their issues with the Pack...while I understand that we could press that advantage...I have a certain feeling that they will not be so pleased to have a few more...ah, what was your term...bloodsuckers? Yes that...I'm sure they wouldn't be too happy about us being there."

I raised an eyebrow. "You wouldn't be on Quileute lands. You'd be on the Cullens' lands. If they are unaware of that, they won't bother the Volturi...If we finish the job quickly...then why do you think they will..."

I trailed off...Caius was grinning, showing me those sharp teeth. I finally found my anger break through the walls. My jaw clenched tight and I felt my heart pound with fury. He didn't care if the Pack didn't get involved. He just didn't want them there at all. His hatred for wolves wasn't reserved for just "Children of the Moon". He wasn't taking any chances.

"You son of a bitch," I never usually cursed, but this was burning inside of me. He deserved much worse. "I don't comply."

"You don't have a choice," He countered.

"Then kill me!" I bit back. "I will not betray my brothers!"

"Jacob Black, you are ignorant," He said with a regretful shake of his head, but I saw he was amused. " You don't see the beauty of your argument. Can't you see that you've already betrayed your brothers? By joining a Coven...and a coven that is especially hated by your brothers. At least the Cullens have their own...dietary lifestyle...we bag the humans by the dozen each week."

I snarled. "I didn't come here by choice! I'm not part of your COVEN."

"Tell your Pack leader that when you meet him. Whatever gets the job done," Caius said in an almost bored voice. He stepped away from me, and I stepped towards him hard on the plush. Basically stomping enough to feel the rock hard floor below the carpet.

"No," I stated, grinding my teeth together. " Never."

"You're already dead to them...think of it as a freedom, Jacob. If they die, there's nothing that keeps you from doing what you meant to do...There will be no hesitation...You can't be stopped."

"Their not stopping me from killing you or any of your coven members. You're the one doing that,"

"Your own life means nothing to you, Jacob. I've seen that. One may look at it as selflessness, but I see the selfishness of the situation. You want Cullen...and I'm the one who holds the key to his murder weapon. You know what makes you selfish, Jacob? I know what you want most. It hasn't changed from your transition at all...," Caius whispered. " Have you ever stopped to wonder the sheer mass of pain you will inflict on the newlywed Mrs. Cullen?"

I froze and my heart seemed to throb against shackles.

Caius grimaced at my silence...my expression. Every emotion he was expecting was laid out in front of him. " Ah, so you have been pretty selfish, Jacob."

"What does it matter to you?" I spat when I found my voice.

"It matters because I will order half the guard to convulse on that newborn just because of your selfishness. You fail to see the threat that your old friends pose...Aro and Marcus will understand the point behind this action."

"You never guaranteed her safety from our presence there in the first place," I growled.

"I promise on my life...that she will be safe from us. I have no desire to destroy a newborn...As a human, she could resist Jane...it would be difficult to fight her if that resistance is still in effect." Caius drolled. "If Mrs. Bella is harmed, I give you the express permission to kill me yourself."

"I can just do it now," I said with a cruel smile.

"and you won't finish," He grinned. We stared at each other.

Putting Bella...over the pack...The Pack that I didn't belong too. The Pack that would have considered me as bad as a bloodsucker or worse if they saw me. Even if I resisted, the meeting on La Push would be rocky...no one would forgive me, and I was pretty sure that some wouldn't even believe me. They would shun me, they already believed I had lost my mind in my last moments...They would exile me...which would be worse then death.

And Bella...she wasn't mine...she never would be. I knew that now...yet even with that in mind, I couldn't bear seeing her in pain...afraid...close to death. Her entire family would perish under the Volturi...I knew that. I needed them to die so that Edward could feel it...but Bella...she was the reason I was still sane..even without being here, she made me feel...like myself again.

I really wish I was able to kill that stupid hybrid when I had the chance...Bella would hate me for all the eternity the world contained. She would never love me, like I envisioned her to have. Never again. She would want to kill me herself as a vampire. Maybe with Bella hating me, I'd be able to stop loving her. But I doubted that...I wouldn't have killed the hybrid if it wasn't out of vengeance for the girl I loved.

The Volturi wouldn't even be apart of my world if I had killed the hybrid. My life wouldn't suck...it'd be pretty bad...I could have dealt with Bella hating me for the rest of my life span if I had gotten my vengeance against the thing that tore her human body apart.

Bella would probably hate me more now. The road I had chosen. If all of her family was killed by the Volturi and she happened to see me on the frontline, she would never forgive my betrayal. Never. She'd understand the vengeance, I hoped...maybe not. She loved that bloodsucker hard.

I really hoped she had the sense to leave the bloodsucker. But she didn't...if she did, she'd run away because she'd finally see what a menace he had become in her life. I stood by my claim. He ruined her life. He killed her human form...all things considered. It wasn't just that freak inside of her that Bella believed she loved.

My smile had vanished and Caius seemed to realize our conversation was closed...and that I had given in...forcefully...sadly...pathetically.

" Deal?" Caius pressed, holding out his hand. I looked down at it then cocked an eyebrow. He chuckled and retracted his hand. He was pretty confident that I wasn't going to try to drain him...knowing what power he held over my head. But he pulled his hand back just so I could at least get the ghost of a triumphant feeling that maybe I had actually intimidated him.

"You're dead if you hurt her. Mark my words. If anyone of your bloodsuckers touch her....You...are mine," I snapped, drawing close and inhaling his too-sweet scent in my nostrils. He only smiled down at me and nodded once. I turned and began leaving. The sooner I was out of here, the better. I had a plane to catch...a twelve hour flight. That gave me a little more then twenty-four hours before the Volturi descended upon the Cullens and attacked...that gave me so little time to deal with what I believed to be, the end of my old self...completely...utterly.

"You're not the hero, Black," Caius said, freezing me in the door frame. I inclined my head a fraction of an inch to the right to see him in my peripheral vision. He had turned back to the mirror, but he was still talking to me, his voice grave. " You were never meant to be."

The flight to Washington was pretty quiet. I was posing as a blind man with my Dad, which was what Erebus pretended to be. Today, my name was Matthew Richards and I was with my Dad, Alexander. The blindness was only an excuse to wear sunglasses. Even contact lenses were burned instantly in my flaming eyes. It was kind of stupid, pretending to walk around carefully with a stick in hand. I was content just staying in my seat and sleeping while Erebus told me every hour which country we were over. After about six hours, the names changed to northeastern states. And I was glad we were finally in familiar territory...where no one had an accent except to their own province.

I found it hard to think...thinking made painful spasms run rampant in my chest...leaving a ghost of a large mass there that weighed over my stomach. Erebus could feel my tension and he never questioned it. I thought he knew...Yes, he definitely knew the real reason behind going to Forks. He knew we were there so that I could destroy myself.

The last stop was in Nevada. Then the last two hours would be spent going to Forks. I had slept for half the trip...and simply slouched in my seat for the other half...it was a relief to be out of the cold of the Volturi habitat, but even so...I couldn't stand sitting around. The beast in me groaned impatiently...It knew we were close...and it couldn't want to get there fast enough.

I stood up as soon as Erebus announced we were over Vegas. " Bathroom."

He raised his eyebrow.

"Dead serious. I'm about to blow," I told him. " Keep that detonator handy, hot shot. Maybe you'll get the piss out of me too."

He growled, then returned to the in flight magazine that he had been absorbed in for the last eight hours. I was pretty sure, this was his fourth or fifth time reading it. I grinned and got up.

Gah. The blonde stewardess instantly approached me and grabbed my elbow saying in what she thought was a sweet voice. " Right this way, sir."

Pretending to be blind was really idiotic. Necessary, but stupid. I actually had the urge to take off the glasses and scare her senseless. But I'd drawn enough attention to myself. Attention full of pity, mind you.

She led me past the blue curtains where she slid open the bathroom door for me, individually indicating at the objects in the restroom that I could already see. As she walked out, she quickly pointed out the switch that would switch from Vacant to Occupied. She switched it to occupied for me, gave me a wink that I wasn't supposed to see under my pretension and stepped out.

I instantly tore off my glasses and set them next to the sink. I took in my reflection...I was glad not to be wearing the robes...and I was glad Erebus hadn't packed it in our small duffel bag either. I was wearing a black t-shirt...loose fitted with very baggy blue jeans and sneakers. I looked like a civilian...and I hadn't realized just how weird that looked...trying not to act like a total prick like everyone surrounding me.

I came in here for a reason.

I lifted the shirt off of my body with ease, placing the lid down on the toilet and setting it there. I looked back at my bare chest...now that I was in a weird light, you could see the faint paleness of my scar...It started on my torso and extended down, growing thicker as your eyes travelled downward. Without even touching it, I could feel where the flesh had been opened...and where the blood had once ran wet.

My right hand traced up it...it was still cold where I touched, warmer in constraint to the rest of my chest. I stopped at the top and my palm massaged the place where my chest plate was. I massaged that area once with my four fingers and felt a throb of annoyance from the phial locked against my heart. I rubbed harder and the little irritance became the ghost of the internal pain I felt each time my heart beat got out of control.

And it didn't take long for it to do that either. I felt it rocking against the friction as I touched my chest...But I couldn't locate where. Beating...beating...I closed my eyes, and like with my draining power, I placed a mental image to it...a beating heart amongst the veins and cartilage...Steadily beating against a small something...a black something. My fingers spread over my chest and I felt the slightest pressure.

I must have lost my mind to be thinking that this would have stopped me...but I didn't care. I applied more pressure to my hands and felt my nails pierce my skin. Five lines of blood rolled down my chest, trickling down down...I had formed a perfect circle around my heart...

Harder. My heartbeat increased. It was simple to find out where the phial of venom was hitting from now. Pain was all over me...From my fingers in my chest, to my heart pounding against what didn't belong. I had known much worse pain.

Just as the tips of my nails broke through my flesh, I felt it.

A spasm of red touched my eyes, even though I wasn't on the prowl. I saw the orange electricity strike the whites of my eyes and form two revolving ovals of electricity from my pupils. Flames seem to sear my fingers and I instantly pulled out, watching more blood join the trails I had already made. I doubled over against the mirror feeling my eyes retract back to their "normal" state.

I wasn't free...this animal would never leave me...he didn't want the phial gone. It was part of the reason I kept killing...It wanted to keep it...at least for now. I spat out the blood on my tongue that came from biting down and groaned.

I heard someone knock on the door. " Sir...are you okay?"

"I'm fine...Go the hell away," I snarled to the closed door, still pressing my entire left side against the mirror and holding my palm...gently… against the five holes I had created.

"You're Father is here...He's really worried...Are you sure your okay?"

Father's worried? Oh right... Bloodsucker smelled the blood.

I pulled on my shirt and felt it start to wet around my chest cavity. I pressed my hand to it and tried to make it blend in...naturally. I washed my hands of the blood and splashed some water on my shirt...it didn't do much..the faded black showed a tiny ounce of the crimson. The water did nothing but to spread it. The bloodsucker would definitely smell that.

Placing the sunglasses over my eyes I stepped out and found Erebus towering over me with a livid expression. His face made me absolutely certain that he knew what I had tried to do in there. But the blonde stewardess and another African American one were right there, watching us anxiously. They might have taken Erebus's anger the strict, Fatherly way.

"Sorry for making you worry, Daddy," I told Erebus who bit back a snarl. " I was trying to find the sink and I found the toilet. It's not pleasant washing your hands in pee."

I heard moans of disgust from the ladies and suppressed a smile. Without further ado, I turned away from Erebus's furious face and headed back to my seat, without a single indication of a blind person. With some satisfaction, I remembered that I hadn't even brought my walking stick along for this ride.

I could feel Erebus's pursuit behind me. He probably wanted to hit me. But he wouldn't lose his cool so easily. I took my aisle seat and slouched back in my seat while he took his window one and instantly turned to me. I wasn't in the mood.

"You have no idea how I feel, so save it," I said before he could hiss at me.

"And you have no idea what risk your placing yourself at. Do you have a death wish, boy? Because if that's the case, keep going in the direction your going in," Erebus hissed, low for no one but me to hear.

" I'd rather be dead then in my current situation, Daddy-o," I told him conversationally. He growled, but didn't argue with me after that. What can you say to that? It was true.

The rest of the trip was a cinch...I mainly was rigid in my seat. With the glasses, one could think I was merely sleeping. But what I was really doing was concentrating on my Drain...I was bending it like a very springy, light...but durable rubber band. The humans I expanded the band around would not feel much...I managed to wrap around Erebus and keep him out of it, since he'd probably use his freaky projection power on me. But I was soon able to take over the entire ship...lightly draining an inch or two...the humans would feel a bit of tiredness, a yawn or two...Nothing big...they could pass it off as being on the plane too long. There was a few prickles of pain in my chest in protest to my concentration, but I knew a bandage would heal it. I couldn't die from this.

When the pilot finally announced the landing, I instantly retracted the rubber band back inside of me and let it rest there. There was no beast growling for me to continue...It knew they weren't prey...So it became exceedingly easier to focus...I liked that.

Faces passed by in a blur in the airport...It was nighttime, but my brief intake of air from the plane to the little tunnel leading to the port was beautiful...I could taste home in the air...and it brought back a swarm of memories along with a stab of pain in my chest. I could have cried from the mass on my shoulders...but I remembered what I agreed too..I remembered...and the thought of what I was sacrificing was pouring in me like a waterfall.

I waited for Erebus to find us a decent car. I needed to break from this facade. Being around people who thought you were crippled was exceedingly annoying. When I managed to shake off the too-friendly middle aged couple, I was standing outside the airport, alone...waiting with my hands in my jean pockets. Finally, Erebus pulled up in a 2002 Black Toyota Corolla. I stared at it. Really...

He reached over from the driver seat to unlock the passenger door. I opened the door and stepped inside, laughing to myself.

"What? Something to complain about?" Erebus asked irritiably.

"Woman car," I laughed, shaking my head. He grimaced and took off from there, pursing his lips in apparent irritation to me.

"I still got your detonator, boy. Better shut that hole," Erebus murmured. I chuckled as I stared out the window. Passing lights...cities I didn't bother looking at the signs for..It amazed me that people were happy right now...going on with their lives with not a care in the world.

...I could have crushed the world with the mounting grief in my chest. No one would be able to survive all the pain I had bottled up. A human heart could not take all of this...But I was built to take this. There was two entities in this body now...and there didn't seem to be equilibrium...I was built to always be at odds with my unwanted roommate.

We continued along the 101, passing up the Fern Hill road. I knew we were there when the cities changed to plains...pretty soon the seclusion of Forks was going to dawn on us. And I knew it when we hit the little green sign that told me how small the population was. I closed my eyes...everything about this place would cause me pain...and I wasn't going to let it...I'd try to avoid that as much as I possibly could.

That's when we stopped and I jerked forward in my seat. Erebus looked over at me and I opened my eyes. Where we were was a small hotel...I only saw it a couple of times when I was passing it by on the Rabbit.

"Go in and get a room," I told Erebus. But he was already out of the car. I watched his pale, ghost like figure walk towards the double doors while I settled in my seat and waited.

When Erebus emerged, he took me to room 128 where there was a single bed. I knew the bed was just for me. The bloodsucker didn't need to sleep...but I felt kind of freaked with the idea of him watching me. Especially when he held my detonator. It made me feel like he'd set the beeping off whenever he wanted to wake me up...and I didn't need that added irritation. But in the end, after laying on the bed and staring at the ceiling.

A few hours passed...but the sky didn't lighten...I didn't even know I had fallen asleep. There was no dreams, no images in my sleep. Not anymore. Monsters didn't dream.

Erebus wasn't there...and the room was exceptionally dark, leaving only stray rays of moonlight in as a source of light. I rose from the bed and looked at the end of it. There was a black business suit waiting for me to put on. I walked over to it and picked up the jacket, shaking it once or twice...no note...no indication why I should be putting this on...but perhaps he simply thought the t-shirt and jeans were getting old. I took those off quickly and put the suit on, staring at myself in the mirror.

I looked like I had come from a funeral...without a tie.

I wasn't even going to bother with the tie. I never learned how to put one on without some kind of help, so there was no point to it. I wrapped it around my white collar and let it hang loose on either side of my neck. I grabbed the sunglasses off my pillow and slapped them on my face.

I wanted to wait...for Erebus. For him to come back and give me an explanation. But after fifteen minutes, my better instincts took over me and I left. Once again, home flooded through me...and every single pore in my body ached to go home...To just check on Billy and Rachel...to see if even Paul was there.

But I couldn't...my newfound abilities made it easy to be quiet...stealthy. But...this was just the kind of thing I needed to avoid. Paul would see me in due time...and the Blacks would have to stay believing I was dead after the job was done.

The job...Wow.

I didn't even know where my feet were taking me anymore. Though eventually, I had found myself close to a field...and in that field, I distantly saw the La Push cemetery.

My eyes seemed to water just looking at it. I hadn't come here since I was ten...and each time, I wanted to go away as fast as I had come, kicking and screaming. The smell of death was so clear even then...and I never got used to it. Each time, was the actual evidence, the undeniable proof that my Mom was dead.

I was just a kid then...Seeing my Mom's grave would only be a small spasm of pain to everything that happened since I was ten years of age. That era felt like a lifetime ago...

I walked to the gates, opening them with two loud creaks that echoed in the dark...didn't matter to me. I continued my stride up the cement path...and it was funny. Just like when I was ten, my heart started pounding, except now their were painful repercussions to that. I knew where I was going...and I knew what I'd see, but it still stung.

And there was a new addition to the right of my Mom's grave.

Jacob William Black

Born 12 June 1990

Died 24 December 2007

"Remember friends as you pass by, As you are now, so once was I. As low as I, you once must be, Prepare yourself and follow me."

I stared at the name for the longest time, shifting my eyes to the grave of Sarah Black and back again. My lungs seemed to freeze...and everything weighed down on my heart. Tears came before I could stop them, boiling hot, then freezing on my cheeks. What was the point of wiping them off or pretending? I let them fall, my lips pressed together hard, looking down at the dewed grass, hiding my eyes from the place where the last of Sarah Black lay, bones now, surely, or dust, not owning or caring that her living son stood so near, his heart still beating, and so close to wishing, at this moment, that he was sleeping in the earth with her.

I steadily walked away from the headstones bearing my mother's name and my own. There was nothing for me here...nothing but pain and lies. I wasn't six feet under...not yet. But it felt that way. In more ways than one.

"Hey Jacob,"

I froze, my eyes steadily turning...I was a few feet away from my headstone now...but someone had crouched infront of it...I looked at who, but they hadn't seen me yet, and I thought it would probably be better that way. I leaped towards the largest headstone containing a crucifix that was my perfect height. It had me close enough to stay hidden and learn who was over my grave.

The voice was so...soft.

"I'm sorry, I'm late," A month of not hearing this voice wasn't enough to perish this voice from my memory. Leah Clearwater's voice was completely clear of bitterness. It surprised me. She sounded tender...not exactly hurt...the month this gravestone stayed here was enough to drown out some of the pain my "death" had caused, if it had caused any at all...but just the sentence she said told me she hadn't been able to leave this grave behind.

"Sam's had us on crazy patrol," Leah continued. She sat down on the grass beside my mound and hugged her knees. " It's nothing like what you used to put us on, you know. But I guess I shouldn't have gotten too comfortable there."

She was silent for the longest time, and for a shining moment, I thought she had gone. But when I peaked around the edge of the grave I was behind, she had put her head in between her knees and moved her legs forward a bit.

"I don't know how to cope anymore...every day it's a new battle...but I don't even know if I'm trying to avenge you, Jake...I'm...not even sure if I can blame you for this...Rachel told me you were the hero...and you died that way....so I can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing..."

I pressed my head against the gravestone and closed my eyes. It was easy to picture Leah's eyes glistening with tears.

" I just wish you would have let me come with you...I could have been there...I could have protected you...You didn't need to fight alone, Jake. You never did."

Go home, Leah..Please.

"I love you, Jake," I heard the soft push of her hand against the grass. "You're still apart of me."

I wish I wasn't. You deserve better then me, Leah...I'd break your heart...

"I know you're with me in spirit...I've felt you so many times so far...," I peaked around the edge to see her elbow curved towards her chest like she was touching her heart. " but I still miss you."

So this was dying inside...My heart ached...worse then it had since I had emerged in my new state a month back... I never thought anyone would care for me...Bella was probably more angry at me then sad...but Leah, I expected the same attitude. I didn't deserve this love. It felt like someone was handing over a trophy to me that I didn't earn.

The same feeling that crept in the forest...that crept a few seconds ago, came back upon me like a wave crashing. I wanted to die. I didn't want this...I didn't want to be a monster. I didn't want this.

I didn't care about Edward anymore...if I had my chance...I would have taken it...but now Bella's life was on my thread too. And I had already failed her once.

I grounded my teeth together and tried to stop the torrent of tears. I heard a faint rumble in my chest...an aching cry in my heart. Where was the justice?

There was no question. I couldn't do this. I'd never do this...I wouldn't hurt Leah. I would not hurt Seth...the two most loyal people I knew. The people that loved me as I loved them. My family. I would not hurt them by hurting their friends...our friends, our old Pack,.

I didn't even hear that Leah had gotten up and walked off. I heard her shoes hit the cement walkway and my eyes turned back to it...I turned my whole body around so at least half of me was visible if she turned around and looked back...She didn't, seeming to be too torn to do so...I watched her approach the gates and start to open them, when the white of her skirt stopped in the distance.

I didn't have to take a few steps forward to hear the voices, as if they were right next to me...My ears were attuned to them.

" I expected to find you here," a deep voice said...I placed a name to the voice. Sam Uley.

" Sorry...I was distracted, Sam...It won't happen again," Leah assured him in a shaky voice. He shifted in the grass and I assumed he was peering over her shoulder.

" That's all right," Sam assured her. " Go on, Leah. You're brother's looking for you."

I heard heels against cement again...I heard them fade. But I didn't hear the other set of shoes going.

My eyes exploded with red and I didn't know why. Instantly, my crimson gaze turned everything else into a milky blur. I cringed from my new sight taking over...it only did this when a bloodsucker was near me. I twirled around the crucifix and slammed against it, cracking the stone with the hardness of my back.

I struggled valiantly against the instincts that were starting to tear my tender feelings into shreds that could be picked up later. I launched into the ground and kept myself there. The beast would not win this. He was realizing too late that I had decided not to fight. He growled furiously inside of me while I let out a soft moan of pain. It was like a catapult was flinging hot iron at my head. I wanted to scream, but that would have done me no good here.

Stop. Please. Stop.

My mental pleading enraged him, I felt his control push me back to my feet where I staggered into the grave and adjusted my glasses closer to my face. He forced tremors down my face and neck..willing me to turn around and follow them...to do what I came here for.

And I fought back.

But it was too late. The threat was here.

"Hey," The deep voice said behind me. I could hear him steadily stepping down on the grass to my position...I used all the strength I could muster to take a step forward, away from him...away from harming anyone tonight.

"Trespassing after hours is a felony, you know that?" Sam told me.

"Then I guess we're both going to jail, aren't we kid?" Ugh....it wasn't me...My voice came out deep...like Sam's except much worse...a threatening snarl that would have come from a demon.

" I have no intention of that," Sam responded calmly. The beast roared in distaste as I remembered that no matter what situation, Sam was calm. It was harder for me to do that...in another life time, I had to work to control my temper, in this lifetime, I would have destroyed everything trying.

"Turn around...Let me see you." Sam ordered. The tone was harsh, like he was giving one of his Alpha commands. He must have grown used to his high horse, because I wasn't forced to obey this, even though every pore in my body that the demon had controlled, wanted me to obey...and spring at him.

I didn't move.

" Turn...around...sir," Sam repeated slowly, as if I was mentally challenged.

With my hands up next to my face, I smiled to the headstone infront of him. " Let's be civil, shall we?"

"That's exactly what I'm doing," Sam snapped.

I closed my eyes and the blood rushed up to my eyes, sending a wild current through each pupil. It was over. There wasn't enough Jacob in me to fight. I felt my waist twist around to my left as I slowly moved my body to face my former Alpha...my brother...my comrade in arms...the man I would have died for...

Fate had a sick sense of humor.


	10. Chapter 10

Sam's mouth fell open in horror.

"Jacob?" He whispered, taking a two steps toward me while I took two steps back and kept the distance between us what it was.

"I'm sorry," That was truer then he'd ever know. I couldn't lie to Sam...couldn't hide anything from Sam. Hell, right now, I couldn't even run away from him. I pulled off my sunglasses and dropped them on the grass.

I saw pain and shock flicker across his face as he saw what had become of my eyes...the blood splatters, the dark red.

"You're alive," Despite what I looked like, even I couldn't mistake the warmth in his tone as well as the burning curiosity. But before I knew it, he was hugging me to his chest as hard as he could.

Acceptance stung me. He didn't care how bad it looked. He didn't. He just was glad to have me back...all the pain my death must have caused the pack...I could feel it in his body. He pulled away and examined me more closely, not taking his hands off my shoulders.

"Where were you?" He asked me softly.

I couldn't answer...I just shook my head. I couldn't act...

He saw that in my face, probably thinking of real horror. He hugged me again.

"You have to see Billy. Come on. Hell you have to see everyone,"

"I can't," I whispered. Now he'd know what I was sorry about. Or at least a part of it. He stared at me with a bemused expression.

"You get contacts?" He asked, eying the maroon in my eyes, now that he was close enough, he could see the swirling electrical current as well. I didn't have to have a mirror to know it was pulsing under my lids...wanting me to strike him, to find the oval of energy that would suck him dry.

But i had control enough to speak...and once again, my sanity was on the balance. " No...I...its my natural color."

He froze, letting me go and taking a step back. It didn't matter if this shade of red was something he hadn't seen before. He was thinking of the worst scenario.

"What happened to you, Jake?" He spat accusingly. " Where have you been this past month?"

"The worst kind of hell, Sam. The worst kind,"

" Who? Who did this to you, Jake?" Sam asked, searching my eyes and stepping back into place in front of me. I recoiled from him.

"I can't tell you," I stated flatly. He scowled at me.

"You don't smell right...There's something off about you," Sam told me, this time his movement to me was so fast. He had his face on my right shoulder and he sniffed a little. He pulled away...I didn't see disgust on his face, but he was frowning at me.

"There's something about your blood...It's not right. You...Jake..?"

I opened my mouth to answer him, but instead I just shook my head of the dark memories that had occurred in my absence.

"The wolf spirit has left you," Sam concluded.

"Hardly...if that were the case, then I wouldn't be here," I said in a scornful voice.

"Then what happened?" He pressed.

Before I could answer, before I could even shake my head. There was a distant rustling sound behind me. Sam and I heard it. Instantly, Sam's nose wrinkled in disgust and he grabbed my elbow, pulling me rather hard behind him. I followed his gaze to the angel adorned headstone that had a figure standing next to it. With the pale moonlight, he contrasted well with the surroundings, like he was apart of the moon and the moon was apart of him.

Erebus didn't look at us immediately; his eyes were closed as he faced the sky in apparent appreciation of the cold air. Then, quite slowly, he opened his eyes and began to walk towards us. He stopped only five feet away from Sam...I could feel the tension in Sam's burning body...the fury..that a bloodsucker had the nerve to show its face on the wrong territory.

"Are you lost, leech?" Sam spat. He sounded like me.

Erebus's lips stretched into a wide smile that I felt make me flinch. " No...I think I'm exactly where I want to be, mongrel."

Sam snarled at the epithet and he released me. " Go, Jake. Get to your house. Tell the others to meet me here."

" Jacob Black, you move one inch...," Erebus threatened without finishing.

Sam froze, his head turning to the left so that at least one eye could see me. " You know him, Jake?"

Erebus answered. " Oh yes. Jacob Black and I are the best of friends. He had a job to do here, you see. A job he is currently failing."

My eyes tightened. Sam looked from Erebus to me, his mouth open...but when his eyes returned to me, I saw the flicker of betrayal in there that set my frozen heart on fire from pain.

"Yes...I guess when you want something done, you have to do it yourself," And before I could even move a centimeter, Erebus drew out a silver, nickel plated pistol and shot a silenced bullet straight at Sam.

I heard it whizz across the air before it penetrated Sam's left shoulder.

He immediately staggered backwards into me in shock. His right hand shakily reached up and touched the newly formed hole. And then he gasped...gasped in pain. He doubled over, vomiting blood.

"SAM!" I screamed, spinning around so that I could bend over next to him. He wasn't looking at me, not even realizing my hand was on his back. His face turned a strange sea green color as he choked on some blood before it spilled out of his mouth in a torrent.

"You son of a bitch!" I snarled at Erebus who was gingerly placing whatever gun he had pulled out back in its holster. " What did you pump him full of?"

"What else?" Erebus retorted. " My venom. It's a painfully slow death. I wasn't counting on you chickening out...getting all sentimental...Now we'll just place him in your grave...no one will be the wiser."

" NO!" I growled, and Erebus's mouth tightened into a line. " I'm not. We're going to save him. "

Sam continued to groan..His face had completely paled, he looked like an off white doll. He fell to his knees, still clutching his stomach, all the blood in his body seemed to be leaving him. I felt spasms of fear prickle in my head.

"There is no way," Erebus hissed, and I looked up to glare at his livid expression, sparkling in the moon light. " I did not bring any Devil Gene with me. He's already dead. He doesn't even know we're here anymore."

Hopelessness flooded through me. I pulled Sam onto my lap and held him there. His gaze was unfocused. I heard choking gasps get caught in his throat as he stared up at the night sky, unseeing...

There was no choice...Either I opened a place on his body and on mine and let me bleed into him, there was only one other option. I did not wish this power to be bestowed upon anyone else. I didn't want to see Sam hesitant to ever touch Emily's face again...after inflicting so much pain. I didn't want Sam to lose the ability to phase. Our Pack needed him...he was getting married...everyone needed Sam Uley.

I placed my hand on Sam's forehead and gripped down. He gasped while I located the oval in front of his heart. I immediately began to stretch it, starting to recede the venom that was coursing through his bloodstream. The oval grew bigger...bigger...the size of a baseball, the size of my fist. Color began returning to Sam's face and his black eyes found my maroon.

In that split second, a small smile lit Sam's face. He blinked and I saw water moisten his eyelids. His right hand, so full of blood reached up and grabbed my head. For a second, I thought he was going to crush my skull with his hand, but I felt the wetness of his blood stain my face.

And then freezing cold hands closed around my throat and I was pulled upward. I didn't see anything but a flash of white and black before I was soaring backwards. I felt my back collide against something hard. The pressure made the hard stone crumble and fall forward. My body slid under it and I saw the tombstone...my tombstone, cracked and broken over my mound.

My eyes flew up, Erebus was standing over Sam, the gun filled with his venom pointing directly at Sam's head. Sam had his hands up as if in surrender, closing his eyes as if preparing to take the shot.

"NO, SAM!" I screamed through the night. But I found my cry useless when Sam rolled onto his left side just in time, cringing from the pain in his shoulder, but as he faced me, he winked. I basically felt the fire tremble down his spine. I watched his legs and arms undergo some tight spasms. His face extended, his back stretched in one rolling extension. And he was as huge as I remembered him, as tall as a horse, black as night...darker then the sky..something out of a nightmare...but as I looked at my old Alpha, I couldn't help but feel fear and relief at the same time.

He didn't look at Erebus who was taking aim again, instead he shifted to the side and let a deafening howl rip through the air. The sound sent unwelcome memories through my mind. I shook them off, knowing that the Pack was not far behind now...I kept a tight, unconscious hold on the oval in Sam's body...if I let go...there would be no hope.

Erebus lowered the gun and tilted his head to the right at Sam. Sam was growling, ready to spring...but Erebus was totally calm. He closed his eyes and focused on something...Sam prepared to leap, but then he suddenly let out a weak whine, looking past Erebus at something.

I followed his gaze, but there was nothing there...I expected a part of the Pack...maybe Jared...Paul? Leah?

I got up and stepped on the broken headstone to up my height, still there was nothing. Yet Sam was whining...letting out soft moans in response to something.

And Erebus was smiling, crossing his arms with smugness all over him.

"SAM!!!" I gasped when it came together. Erebus shot an irritated look in my direction before he raised his gun hand towards me...he wasn't aiming...he was holding palm out while the trigger of his pistol dangled on his pointer finger. I saw the air moisten and blur in front of me.

Bella.

As soon as she appeared, she grabbed my waist and buried her head in my chest.

"I'm scared, Jake, I'm scared!" Bella cried out, tears in her voice. I tried to disentangle myself from her, but her grip was surprisingly hard, and she cried when I started resisting her. Over her shoulder, I watched Sam shift around Erebus and break into a run down the cement walkway towards the Emily that wasn't there.

"NO!" I yelled. " It's not there! She's not real!"

The Bella in my arms shattered like glass and my hands closed over air. For one half-second, Sam let out a howl before his black eyed gaze went in my direction. I made my eyes plead with him, praying he realized what I did. And that distraction...was all that was needed.

I heard for the third time, a silenced gunshot.

Sam staggered backwards on all fours. I reached out towards him, but the range was too far...and there was far too much venom coupled with his own blood. His head fell to the gaping hole in his chest, and then he looked to me...his muzzle falling open, showing me his teeth...his eyes lost the light that I had grown to both hate and love. He blinked once...twice...then closed his eyes before he fell onto his right side, letting a soft breath escape his body.

And my scream of horror never left me: silent and unmoving.

After one shocked second, I broke into a run, leaping over my headstone towards Sam, but once again, icy hands grabbed my white shirt and tackled my into the cement. I felt my nails dig into Erebus's wrists, triggering my worst instinct. The oval was in his chest throbbed, but he merely looked agitated at my projection of power. He grabbed by collar and shoved my head against the ground.

"Not yet," He hissed in my ear.

"No..now...I'm going to kill you," I growled.

" You'll die with her," He told me. I shook my head. No more looming threats. I wouldn't have it. At this moment, nothing mattered.

"This is what we came here for!" He roared in my ear. " You wanted her to live! You made your choice!"

He pressed me into the ground, seeing the orange glare in my eyes...and shaking his head again. " Not yet. You'll get your chance."

I felt fire lick my insides at his words. I would not wait...There was no beast within me...We were one and the same. My nails tightened in his wrists and I closed my eyes with concentration...he would die tonight...and nothing else mattered.

I watched the color recede from his face. While I held him so tightly, he couldn't dig into his pocket and draw out the biggest threat on me. I watched his burgundy colored eyes turn back to their natural color. He growled...and I felt him focus internally...his own..useless power. He was a fool for thinking this would work now..Even if she was real..and she was there above me, I wouldn't take this moment back...I wouldn't stop....

Somewhere above me, Bella stood, pleading with me to stop, but my vision blurred into a haze of red. I grew the oval into a basketball size of his venom with ease. He coughed, losing control of his projection while his heart fired off into thumping beats. Like a film going haywire, Bella's body flickered like static before she shattered. The pieces of Bella evaporated around us.

I felt his flesh soften under my hold..soften to a human level. He was gasping and green veins were running rampant in his neck and face. He gasped a shuddering breath, his eyes wide on my face while I held him at arms length.

Like a rubber band...Like a slingshot, I released.

A fountain of blood gushed out of his mouth and spilled on my neck and right shoulder. It stung and burned like acid. I cringed and released his hands. Another combustion burst from his chest and I knew his heart had exploded...exploded so much that it burst through the flesh around his once beating organ.

His whole weight fell onto me...Lifeless.

I shoved his body off of me and stood.

I was covered in blood...and reeked of bloodsucker. The leech venom was throbbing painfully on my throat and shoulder..but I knew the Devil Gene was acting like a white cell agent. It made the pain recede, but not by much. My gaze fell to Sam's lifeless body in front of an unmarked grave...The wolf had left him...There he was, completely human. By this angle, he could have merely been sleeping, curled up in a ball, if it weren't for the puddle of blood underneath his waist.

The gate opened behind me...and I wasn't surprised...I didn't turn away from Sam's body, glistening in the moonlight...the evidence of my treachery and murder. As my heart was flooded with emotion...the red dispersed from my eyes.

I heard more then a dozen footsteps behind me...I looked into the full moon, shining down at me, making the blood on my skin and shirt glisten

"Sam!!" A female voice cried. I heard someone rush past my right side and I automatically looked to the left, unable to look at Leah in the face. She wasn't alone. I could smell Seth...and hear his uneven breathing. He was already crying. He ran with Leah to Sam's body.

"YOU!" Someone roared behind me. " Turn around! Right now!"

So someone was already taking control. That made me happy...at least they wouldn't become strays now...Leah's eyes were full of tears, even without looking at her, I could see the sparkle of her tears from the corner of my eye. She looked up, saw me...and I heard her mouth open with a popping sound.

"Jacob?...It can't be...," Her voice was complete shock.

Seth looked back at me too, his expression mirroring Leah's.

Paul. " That's impossible! Jacob? YOU! I said turn around!"

Jared. " Hey, you heard the man. Turn around, bro...It's not right to rip someone apart in an act of vengeance when their back is to you."

Deja Vu.

I slowly turned waist around and my legs copied the movement. I heard several gasps of shock. Jared and Paul were ahead of Quil and Embry who were looking at me like I was a ghost. I didn't know what was on my face, but I destroyed the pain that might have been there.

"You're alive," Paul whispered. His look of shock instantly evaporated as he took in the blood on my clothes to the body behind me and next to me. " Amazing."

"Yeah," I responded. There was an edge to my tone and I had to put forth my whole effort to make it sound menacing and cold. " I suppose I am."

They were fooled by it. Paul's eyes narrowed and a violent tremor ran down his whole body. It had to take everything for him to sound human. " You did this?" He nodded towards Sam and the body infront of me.

I closed my lips and grounded my teeth together. " Yes."

"No," Quil whispered in shock.

"Jacob?" said Embry tentatively.

"Why?" Leah whispered. I didn't even hear her come behind me...but her voice was still full of anguish...I couldn't look at her. It was easier to look at Paul...ready to phase into something much bigger and stronger then me at the current moment.

"I want to be Alpha...I thought I made that clear from day one," I lied through my teeth. The misery in my voice was still masked.

I heard roars of fury all around the circle. Never had I seen Quil and Embry look at anything, let alone me, with so much hatred. There was no fondness for their old friend...Sam had taken my place in my absence...the big brother, the best friend...and I had robbed them of it...I had brought the enemy here...I deserved the death that they wanted for me... I deserved much worse.

But that was it. They needed to hate me. They needed to hate me with everything they had. They needed to never trust the dangerous hell spawn that I had become...because there was no Jacob Black in me. Jacob Black should have a tangible form that should be under that shattered gravestone. I was a predator...and I had one last thing to do before I died...before I joined Sam in the next world.

Even Leah...I suppressed a wince.

"We will all die before we serve you, traitor!" Paul seethed. He was aching to phase, but Jared had placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Then I guess...," My voice came out a hiss, vicious. " You'll all die."

Another fission around the circle. I still couldn't turn around to see Leah or Seth. A convulsion heaved through Paul's body. He threw his head back, and a real growl tore from between his teeth. He fell forward on his hands, vibrating violently. There was a loud ripping and tearing sound as he exploded into the wolf. Black fur blew out of his back, coalescing into a shape five times his normal size. His muzzle wrinkled over his razor sharp teeth as he glared at me with as much as hatred as Embry and Quil.

Paul scratched the ground with his paws, ripping snarls shooting in the air. He looked to the moon and let out a ear-splitting howl. The answer was the domino effect of phasing throughout the circle.

I heard Embry shout to Leah and Seth before he went to the point of no return. " Get Sam out of here!"

I cracked my neck and shrugged my shoulders. The Pack went into a counter clockwise circle around me, strategizing amongst themselves where I couldn't hear. I followed Paul's motion. He would strike first...he had already claimed it. As I followed him, I saw Seth and Leah around Sam's body which sent a flame of pain through my torso. I looked at Leah, who met my gaze. She shook her head and her eyes glistened.

Even now, pain looked so pretty on her. Why hadn't I ever noticed that before? There was no such thing as beauty like Leah's.

I gave Seth and her my last. A fleeting look of the true emotion behind everything....regret.

"JACOB!" Leah screamed, stepping towards me.

And then the Pack engulfed me and I made no move to stop them. They were off...Ripping and tearing at every thing they could get their paws on. I didn't even bother defend myself...Quil's teeth clamped into my left calf where I felt blood run down my leg in a tickling sort of motion.

It was Paul who had thrown my onto my back, his claws sunk into my chest, rekindling the old wound that I had made myself where the phial was. I could feel the white hot fire from his body on top of mine. He growled and let out a howl at the smooth victory he had attained preparing to sink his teeth into my neck.

I could feel my right leg being jerked from side to side where Jared and Embry had gone into a game of tug of war to see who could rip it from the joint.

There was no point in fighting back.

I had been closer to death then this...this was just more painful, because each swipe, each cut that Paul had marked my face and chest with was a mark of the betrayal I had done tonight.

And then Paul prepared...Dinner was served. I felt saliva drip into the venom already embedded on my neck...and that made the liquidy skin bubble and burn like peroxide.

I closed my eyes and braced myself....

_Remember why you came here._

As always, even if it had come thirty million times tonight, Bella's face broke through in my mind. Much more real then any projection that Erebus could have provided. The expression on her face was angry...disappointed, naturally, that I was giving in...and giving her up.

Instantly, the fiery pressure on my chest was gone. The gnawing wrenches around my legs were gone too. Death...It felt so good to be released from pain.

But there was no release...the pain came back full blast. Except that no one was continuing it. My eyes opened to the starry sky only to hear the sounds of pure agony all around me. I looked on either side of me...Everyone had unphased. They were clearly recoiling from something...draining them.

"I look inside myself and see my heart is Black," I stated, slowly rising to my feet while there was groans of pain around me. Paul was closest to me, his eyes wide as he looked up in my haze of red.

I felt my face grow cold before I used my foot to turn him over on his back, still controlling the oval in his chest. I expanded it ever so slightly. He groaned and then growled with seething fury.

"They said I was out of the game," I whispered as I knelt beside Paul and took a handful of his hair so that his chin shot up in the air. " but I'm holding all the cards now."

My eyes flew to Embry and Quil...I gently contracted their ovals so that they could breathe again, but it was Jared and Paul that I kept a hold on..They needed to hear this. " I'm going to say this slowly...so you'll understand, you got me?...Tomorrow...at eight o'clock A.M. sharp...you're going to come down to the First Beach and we're going to settle this..once and for all."

"What're....what're you doing...Jacob?" Paul asked through labored breaths. His skin started turning pale under my hard gaze.

" Killing you," I answered simply. " But I want to savor that moment for tomorrow. You be there...so will I."

He didn't respond, merely choked in a gasp. I let him go and let him breathe. He needed to live so he could hate me. I walked around him to the only unmoving body in this circle, kicking Erebus to his front. I knelt down, ignoring the giant gaping hole in his chest glaring at me. I dug in his pants pocket and drew out, not what I was looking for...a cellphone. I pocketed that. But deeper in was that little black something.

I picked it out...it was no taller then my pinky finger. Black and thin. It had a series of buttons on the right side, all leading to the thing at the top that was a round red button...

Something so small could kill a monster. This was a prize. I would have given it to any one of them..these men that deserved nothing more. But I had to ensure something first...and there was truly only one person that I wanted to hold the key.

Tonight was my night to be selfish...Hell, I was selfish all over.

I was a monster...a devil...I knew now why they called the new entity inside me, the Devil gene. Because it had distorted me, taken everything from me...I turned away from the weakness of my brothers...I couldn't bear to look at them any longer. I painted a mental picture of every face here and committed it to memory.

The gate was in my direct line of vision and I walked towards it...my whole body aching. I didn't realize that my legs had been gouged so badly, that it hurt to move them at all. And so my stride changed to that of a limping man, dragging one foot back, then the other with each step I took. As soon as I was at the gate, I snapped my fingers and the rubber band of Draining Power held over Jared and Paul was gone.

I retraced my steps...walking back into town without a second glance back at where I had left. I attracted stares...knowing I looked worse then I felt. I could deal with the searing scratches...the burns across my face.

Before I knew it, Room 128 was right infront of me. I pressed my side into the door and staggered inside, leaving the door wide open.

I picked out the cell phone that stayed next to my detonator and called the first number in the phone book without looking at the name. As it rang, I threw off my jacket and the torn, bloody white shirt underneath.

The voice that I heard sent a tremor of hate down my spine.

"Erebus," Caius hissed. " I told you to call me when the job was done..Not at your leisure. We're at the airport now. I'm about to-"

"Erebus is dead," My voice came out flat and cold, interrupting his stupid anger.

He was silent for the longest moment, then I heard a rumbling laugh in his voice. " Well now...I come to expect something...and you take me a little by surprise. Did it end badly?"

"No. You got your wish. The Alpha of the La Push Pack is dead too. Your leech interfered...and I didn't take it too well," This was a half-truth. If Erebus hadn't come in...I'd...

No, this was my fault. Completely.

" Aro will be disappointed," Caius answered me and my eyes flickered coldly at the nonchalance. Each life in his coven was disposable...My own included. " He rather liked Erebus. A good man."

"Man," I snorted derisively. " Whatever. You're at the Forks Airport?"

"Will you be joining us?" Caius asked, still sounding amused.

"You're forgetting something. I have the murder weapon now. I did my side of the bargain. You live up to yours," I said.

" I gave you my word, Jacob. She is safe from me," Caius said in a voice that suggested he was insulted by me doubting him.

"Then I'll be seeing you," I told him, hanging up. I didn't turn around, but a new scent had saturated the air. I pressed a button on the phone and placed it to my mouth while I placed my hand against the TV and leaned against it.

"Yes, Leah?"

She took a few more steps forward and I made no move to stop her from drawing close. A warm hand traced my shoulders, my back, down my arm. Leah's other hand followed the same pattern and she closed the distance between our bodies, laying her head on my back gently. The warmth sent a flood of emotions through me...all of them tying into that aching throb in my chest.

" I know you didn't kill him," She whispered against my back. Her voice was my tender, like she was talking to my gravestone again.

" Sam's number was up the minute I decided to come back, Leah...It doesn't matter whether I pulled the trigger or not," I winced, because this assessment described the situation to the core.

" What happened, Jake?" She traced the cuts and scrapes on my back, gentle as she could...It actually felt good...like the heat was taking the pain away, the opposite effect of ice. "Where did you go?"

" Italy," I answered. I licked my teeth and set my tongue on the top.

"What happened?" She asked me again.

" They killed me," I answered. I felt Leah shudder against my skin, but I wasn't worried about scaring her. She had a lot more bravery then I was used too. She could handle bloodshed...and there was so much of it. "and then just like that...I was brought back...like magic. Poof."

"And then?" She pressed her forehead below my neck.

"Why do you want to know, Leah? It's not like the story has anything happy in it,"

"Because I care about you Jacob. You don't know how hard this was for me...This whole month...you left without a word...and you made damn sure I didn't follow you...and we thought that you were dead...you don't know...how...empty...I've been...you don't know...," Her voice cracked and broke. I felt something more wet on my back.

I looked up at the ceiling. " Why did you come here, Leah?"

"You didn't deny it, Jacob...You didn't kill him...Seth knows I'm right. We found vampire venom inside of his stomach where he...," She couldn't continue. " You...you weren't the one..."

I had nothing to say to this.

" Why did you lie, then, Jacob?" She asked me, plea hard in her voice.

"Leah, let me ask you something. Not as Jacob Black, not as your Alpha," I chuckled at the word, because she never thought of me as that big Alpha. " As your friend...or former friend anyway...If I asked you...to leave. Would you? If I asked you...to make sure you never saw me again...would you be able to do it?"

She was silent for the longest moment, her cheek pressed against my back. Finally, I heard her exhale and place her chin against me. Her voice was low. " No..."

"I'm not good for you, Leah...I'd break you worse then Sam ever could," I told her, my voice earnest.

"Why do you say that?" She tightened her hold on my shoulders and her voice was full of tears. " What's hurting you, Jacob? Why did you lie to Paul and the Pack?"

"Because I don't want you near me tomorrow," I answered, trying to shrug out of her grip, she didn't release. " The Cullens have more on their plate then the Pack now."

I felt her freeze. She didn't know what I was talking about.

" I'm not the only one pissed off about the spawn they created," I answered her unasked question. "The people I've become part of...their not happy with them...and tomorrow morning, their going to come and destroy the Cullens."

She was still frozen, but I felt her thaw and tremble against my back.

"You're with them...What?...What are they?" She asked, her voice harsh. " What was that power they used on you?"

" The Volturi. The sickest group of bloodsuckers on the planet...and as for the power...I don't know where it came from," I told her honestly.

"You're with them?" She asked me. Her hands slid down my back to my waist where she wrapped her arms around me and pressed her whole body into mine. I didn't resist this...it was enough, how much pain I was causing her. Rejection was a sick thing...and I had my share of it.

"Don't pity me, Leah...Come tomorrow, it won't matter," I assured her.

"What's tomorrow for you?"

"I'll die," I simply stated. " The Pack will be happy...At least there's that."

"You didn't kill Sam, Jake. I know that...I can tell them otherwise. They'll see for themselves," Leah told me in a hard voice. "And you won't be dying either."

I turned around to face her. My battle scarred face was glistening back at me in her eyes. She took a quick intake of breath at the sight of my blood red eyes gazing in her black ones. But even so, she kept her hands on my waist, not willing to let me go.

"I already believed you were dead for long enough...Don't do this to me again," Leah whispered while a tear rolled down her cheek. I caught it there with my two fingers and let the drop fall to the ground.

"This time, I'll stay out of your life," I promised. " I won't cause you anymore pain."

"You're not causing me pain now...I'm glad you're here," Leah said, her eyes glistening with tears.

"Then why are you crying?" I asked, my voice working to sound amused. " If you're glad, you don't cry..."

"Their called tears of joy, Captain Obvious," She stated, matching my effort. She sobbed and looked to the ground, her voice becoming serious again. " Don't die, Jacob..."

Some broken instinct in me, decided to act on it. I pulled her into my chest and hugged her there as tight as I could. She sobbed into my shoulder...not caring anymore about all the weakness she was showing me. " If I could, then I would...I'd go wherever you would go."

"I love you, Jake," She cried. "Don't die. Don't go. Stay. Stay with me."

"Stay with the Pack tomorrow...if you get scared, run away, okay? Just run away," I whispered in her ear. She tightened her hold on me. I kissed her cheek and held her to me for the longest time. " Don't tell them tomorrow...Just let them believe what they believe."

"What? Let them believe that you killed Sam?" Leah asked incredulously. I nodded slowly and she shook her head.

" Just do as I ask...for once....It's not going to be pretty tomorrow, but I am going to end this...once and for all, I'm going to end this," It sounded more like I was trying to convince myself.

"By ending this," I felt her tiger-kitten anger. " Do you mean dying?"

"It all depends on what I decided to do before that...That's all that matters, Leah...I've learned something...This whole month...I've lost everything in this short span of time...and I know that. I'm not going to fight the hands of time...I'm not going to fight Fate. Even though Fate hasn't been so kind to me...The first time, I was worried so much about revenge...that nothing else mattered to me. I would have burned the world if someone gave me the chance to get my revenge. I blamed that killer spawn...I blamed myself. I didn't regret loving Bella. I regretted hoping there was a chance for us. That's not going to happen now. I could have lived with that. I could have lived knowing she was at least happy."

" But she won't be happy. As much as my heart desires me to kill Edward, she would never be happy with me if I took his life. Even if I didn't deal the hand that killed him, she would hate me with her whole being. The two of them...They belong together."

"I've hurt her so much," My voice broke. " You don't have a Sam to break you, but you know how I feel. I can't live in this world any longer, Leah. It's too chaotic, too full of death. I had to see that with my own eyes to know it. "

I tilted my head to the side. I wouldn't cry. No more tears...I brought her warm hand up and placed her palm over my chest where she could feel the uneven beating of my heart against the phial of Vampire venom. She gasped, obviously able to feel it...and hear it now that I had quieted.

"What is that?" She asked softly. " What am I feeling in you?"

"Venom...it's still infectious to my heart," Her eyes grew wide and I continued with a wry smile. " That was the going rate to serve the Volturi. Either I joined it or I died. Either I fought for them or I died. But when they told me, I didn't care about that. I really didn't. They held Bella's life on the strand when they realized that. They put the Pack and my family's life on there too. I knew I had to live so that I could stop them."

Leah's eyes were wide as they could go...I saw more sparkling tears begin to roll down her eyes and I simply wiped them away with my knuckle. No regrets...no mourning.

" As for...how I feel... how I feel...," I chuckled at the two answers I had bubbling on the surface of my mind. "...How I feel...This...inside...me...," I squeezed her hand and felt the inner corners of my eyelids prickle painfully with my own anguish. I curled my fingers around hers. " I wish I couldn't feel anything, Leah...I wish I couldn't feel a damn thing."

I dropped her hand while she held onto me...and the blissful feeling our moment brought was soon lost in the hands of time.

I had to leave La Push. The jeep that Leah had given to me was relatively slowing to a crawl when it left the Quileute border. I was able to pay my last respects to Sam before he went under. I had to take the car keys from the Clearwaters and leave when a windswept and woken Emily came rushing demanding to see Sam. But the wailing cries of pure sorrow followed me all the way down the lawn.

Leah had offered to let me use her shower before leaving with my refusal...so even though the new black t-shirt and jeans were clean, there was still dried blood staining my face and neck. But the collar of the shirt covered the fresh burns from Erebus's venom on my throat. I was safe from the nasty idea of water in the fire.

My phone rang and I stopped on the empty street next to a small shopping center to pick it up.

"Jacob?" Caius's voice came from the other side.

" Yeah..," I answered blandly.

"I trust you will be present for the battle tomorrow at noon," Caius told me softly.

" Hmm, " I murmured. " What does it matter to you if I do or not? I was planning on just to see if you kept your end of the bargain."

" Oh I'm sure you want to be able to see it for yourself, Jacob Black. I doubt you'll be spectating...I expect my Guard to be in top shape before a battle. That's why we're hunting before dawn...Perhaps you should join us," Caius mused.

"Back up for a second, you Volturi rat," I snarled. " I'm not part of your Guard. Not anymore. You gave me your word. Why should I have any reason to stand on the frontline with you?"

"You'll do whatever I tell you to do, dog," Caius hissed fiercely. I could hear something rustle in the backround and knew he had gotten up from wherever he was sitting. " You really think I would have been inconsiderate of every possible outcome? With your raw, nearly uncontrolled power so near? It was practically transparent...I knew one slip would lead to Erebus's downfall."

I paused, not quite understanding...but my throat constricted on a lump...The lump signifying some small part of my mind that knew where this was going. " What're you talking about?"

" You really think your leash was cut off and handed to you?"

My muscles tensed and I felt my teeth grind together, causing my gums to throb in protest. " You're lying."

" Am I?" Another rustling noise and I felt something scratch against the holes of the phone. I held the phone away an inch away from my ear. He depressed something.

As soon as he did, I felt something constrict in my chest, seeming to tighten my ribs around my beating heart. I felt the phone slip out of my hand as I gripped the steering wheel and I pressed my forehead against the hard leather padding.

Deja Vu.

Not one month ago, I was doing this...dying...But this time, it was my heart started beating threateningly in my chest, completely out of my control. It took all the strength in my body to calm it down. Each thud was a thud against the thing that didn't belong. Each thud was uneven, hard, because it could not beat as efficiently as it would were there no phial tied around it. It seemed to weigh it down, destroy its essence with each beat.

I heard him hissing into the phone, knowing what I was doing, seeing right through all the torture I was going through, placing a mental picture to it. My eyelids wrinkled from the effort of keeping the pain from touching every pore in my body. I hadn't realized my other hand was gripping my t-shirt in front of my chest.

I steadily picked up the phone on my lap with a shaking hand. My heart hadn't calmed an inch but I was getting used to how out of control it was and I was able to breathe deep and even.

"Good job, Jacob," Caius muttered victoriously. " I was wondering whether you'd believe me. I thought a dosage of proof on your side of the line would help that matter."

I snarled in reply, and he merely laughed. " You will meet us in the forest tomorrow. I expect nothing less. And remember something...A word to the not so wise...Keep your mind closed."

Seattle was never a cool drive to me. I usually didn't go because of how much gas it wasted. That wasn't a concern of mine anymore. I weaved through the forest outlands with ease...a while ago, speed was also a minor concern...but getting pulled over didn't bother me either. The prick cop that dared to try to pull me over wouldn't last half a minute.

I laughed at the suddenly violent direction of my thoughts. No wonder there was no beast or monster in my chest, encouraging these thoughts, because I was doing it myself now, without the assistance.

I suppressed a growl when I reached the intended destination. It was basically restaurant avenue, and I had to go to one of the more "classy" ones at the end. It was right next to The Pacifico. This one had some famous Italian name with two old fashioned medievil looking torches outside at the door.

I parked in front of the Italian restaurant, ignoring the offers for valet as well as the remarks about this being an unsuitable place to park. I didn't want to be here longer then I should have. My attire was not quite fitting for a fancy resaurant anyway. I may have had change of clothes, but the fresh cuts and scratches from my run in with the Pack was all over my face and body.

. I didn't have to wait long for the party I wanted to come from the doors. I plopped off the hood of my car so that they could get a better view of me.

It was the entire Volturi coven...shuffling out like a swarm of black ants. I saw the Order of rank clearly. Aro, Caius and Marcus were in the front..Behind them was Alec, Jane and the three I hadn't had much conversation with: Chelsea, Demitri and Felix. Felix was all muscle. I was reminded of Paul...and a little of Emmett Cullen. He was more brawn then anything...quick and easy would the deaths on his hand be. He had no redeeming abilities, but I assumed, like with Erebus, Aro was "fond" of him.

And Chelsea...She was one of those few that wasn't going to use her ability on me. She had no reason too either. She could bind and unbind relationships, make them stronger or weaker. Caius had suggested she try the ability on my binding to Caius and Chelsea said it was impossible since my seething hatred for him, prevented a "binding" from even being there. I disagreed with that since I had to deal with his crap which brought a level amount of...stuff there, but it made me content to know that I wouldn't be forced to like the blackmailing bastard.

And then there was Demitri. Caius had warned me that if I ever intended to run away, which was never the case, I would have an extremely difficult time outrunning Demitri. He was a tracker. Though he didn't look like one...he was a little darker...just a tad, then other bloodsuckers. He had an olive complexion that made him blend well with the mortals. When his red eyes found me, his face split into a wide smile...that was mirrored on several other faces.

Aro extended his arms to me. " Ah Jacob!"

I was amazed at how much pleasure this bloodsucker could fake. I read his face and knew behind that mask of delight was the anger at me for killing Erebus. He studiously kept it hidden from the coven though.

I wrinkled my nose as he hugged my shoulders and gave me a squeeze into his chest. Over his shoulder, looking eerie in the light, Jane looked furious. I winked at her and she took a step towards me menacingly. Caius placed a hand on her shoulder with ease to calm her. I could feel my thoughts swarm into Aro's head from our touching. What did it matter now? I wasn't free from my chains to the Coven...so he would not sense betrayal..he'd see as far back as he wanted...this whole night would play back in his head..easier then it would for me. I couldn't relive it.

''You see, Caius? He is here! There was no reason to fret," Aro told his brother, looking to the side where he knew Caius to be. He didn't release my shoulders. " I knew he would come, just as you expected."

"Of course, Aro," said Caius smugly. " It's all in the bargaining."

I licked my teeth, but didn't say anything. We were causing quite a scene. A gathering of the pale, cold faces, except for me. Aro recognized that in my thoughts..but it didn't seem to bother him. I took a look in his eyes and saw that they were black with thirst.

Ugh. Nasty parasites.

"I suppose we will see you tomorrow morning," Aro said, letting me go and taking only my left hand. He pressed something into my palm and I didn't look down at it, not yet. He nodded..a smile pasted in his light face. He looked like a Father saying goodbye to his son...and I wouldn't play the part. I merely nodded, looking at Caius instead. I didn't need a heart implosion tonight while I was sleeping. This was my way of assuring him that I would be there.

Caius crossed his arms looking thoughtful..but he shook his head, amused and turned to the Guard behind him. He hissed something in Italian and the group began to follow his lead towards the cars. I looked away when I saw a gaggle of women in their late thirties, eagerly following the Volturi. Aro stayed a moment longer, winking at them as they passed, then he looked to me.

"Dinner?" I said, trying to keep hate out of my tone.

"And breakfast," He said with a smile. I narrowed my eyes. " until tomorrow. Keep that address close, Jacob Black. Spada del Volturi."

I watched and felt him release me and begin following the group. He threw his arms and began speaking rushed Italian to the giggling women in his little purr. I shuddered at the death that they would have to face...like Gianna. But like Gianna, there was little pity...the term "Don't play with strangers" applied here as much as it did with Gianna. Too "pretty" people were never a good sign.


	11. Chapter 11

I went back into the jeep and started the engine. I could tell the reception was glad to see my "tacky", "unfit" vehicle go. Like it mattered to me either way. I never cared much for the opinion of bloodsuckers. I looked in my rearview mirror and checked over my seat. There was some boisterous old woman and her man in my way. They looked highly affronted when I revved my engine threateningly, quickly scampering out of the way...and clearing my view of what was behind me.

Normal human eyes couldn't have seen what I did. And each second that I blinked, looking at it amongst the trees, I thought it would disappear the next second.

The Silver Volvo.

Every single instinct in my head told me that it wasn't the same one and that it was just a coincidence...some rich person's car..except that even as I looked at it, I saw a tiny crack in the upper part of the windshield and saw that there was no driver side mirror.

Something that beat up had no place here...Just like this jeep. I turned back to my wheel and began backing up. The Volvo wasn't as close as I would have had to be(if I was human) to see what I saw. It was in the restaurant over, the Pacifico, far from the Pacifico's parking lot...in the trees where it seemed to be hoping to remain under cover.

Was I followed? I remembered being alone on the street tonight.

Maybe Edward had remained close enough to follow my thoughts, not close enough to hit me. I remembered the last time the Volvo and I were at it. He should have died from the crash, and I shouldn't have been far behind.

I pulled out of the Italian restaurant's parking lot, deliberating on the slightly empty street.

Even with the marks, it could be anyone.

But there was a stench of bloodsucker on me that kept that comforting theory at bay. This wasn't anyone. This was exactly who I thought it was.

I wheeled the jeep around and made my way to the Pacifico. I turned inside the parking lot and decided not to approach the restaurant this time. There was no need to involve witnesses and casualities by killing him inside. There was no reason to get annoyed by people who though I was unworthy of being on this "noble" territory. I would wait by the car...I would park Leah's car far away so that if I was caught in the act, as unlikely a scenario as that might be, they would never trace the car back to the Clearwaters. I'd run if I had too.

I parked in between a black Lincoln Navigator(which made my jeep look like crap) and a gold Nissan Altima. Yes, it still stuck out...but it was far from where the Volvo was amongst the trees. Before I stepped out of the jeep, I placed my sunglasses securely over my face. If I did get caught by a human, they didn't need to scream.

I hedged in between cars in the line in a zig-zag motion on my way to the Volvo. No one would see me this way...I was much too fast. I didn't get to experience my newfound speed much since I woke up a month ago...but I was much faster then I had ever been as a wolf. I was nearly as fast as Edward...We were matched now...and that made all the difference in the world.

Finally, I was near the tree that covered the Volvo. I knew the moment I got there that this was definitely a vampire's car...They all smelled the same to me...and I smelled it pretty strong. It was facing me. I would have appreciated this car a long time ago, but right now, the desire to wreck it, to set it on fire was ablaze in my head.

I rested against the hood of it, glaring in the general direction of the restaurant doors...waiting for that bastard to come out.

It didn't really occur to me how strange this was. Didn't the Cullens know...or at least Edward know, that they were going to face his doom tomorrow? Even if it wasn't me that did it...Volturi would pound the Cullens into nothing. They were the law of bloodsuckers.

So why exactly was Edward in a fancy shmancy restaurant?

Did they give up that diet to hunt at night? Noble blood like the Volturi.

That was disappointing. I could hate the Cullens with every fiber in my body, but knowing that they had given up their dietary lifestyle was downright sad. Maybe they did know how screwed they were and were deciding to go all out.

I bit back the curious workings of my mind. A gust of wind blew the sweet scent back to my nose and I faced the Pacifico's doors as they opened.

I heard a voice at the door. A high pitched peal of bells that rang out in a honey-sweet soft tone used solely for persuasion. " Thank you, J...I look forward to a meeting between us in the future."

There was something amused in these words...dark humor. I wasn't paying attention...because I suddenly forgot how to breathe.

She was indisputably beautiful. Long, heavy black hair that went all the way to her waist. Her body was fluid in motion. She looked like a runway model...Or probably much better. The way she walked was effortless, graceful..As she passed through the flourescent light from the outside, I noted that she didn't look awkward like the Volturi had...but the light made her skin glisten subtly, luminous like a pearl even with the dim taint of my sunglasses over my eyes.

Her head was down as she clutched a ivory, calf-length trenchcoat to her body. I saw the delicate curves of her skin that sent shivers down my spine.

I never believed Bella could be even more beautiful then she already was.

And this Bella was one hundred and ten percent real.

And alone to boot. I heard nor saw no persual behind her.

She kept her eyes to the ground as she started walking down the stairs towards me. I committed the movements to memory...So subtle, it was unlike her.

Her scent brushed my nostrils and I no longer felt like it was the worst thing in the world. It wasn't bad at all...Had I really thought that they all smelled the same? Bella smelled like orange mingled with another sweet scent...roses.

I was staring at her so long, that I didn't register that I was here at all...that she would stop and see me on her husband's car. She froze, literally...looking like an ice cube. I watched the car keys fall out of her hand.

"Jacob?" She whispered. Her voice rang and shimmered like a bell, but somewhere in there I heard Bella's old voice too. It sounded sweeter this way...It fit...this way.

"Bella," I worked to say her name. My voice was constricted and came out hoarse. I cleared my throat with a loud "ahem" and rose off of her car. She swayed a little on the spot, continuing to stare at me. She blinked fast and I saw a strange gleam in her eyes. She was expecting me to disappear with each blink like I was expecting her to do the same. I smiled...knowing she wouldn't. Even if I convinced my mind she wasn't real, she'd still be there.

I opened my arms to her, and tilted my head to the left side. I watched a certain tenderness dawn on her face as she stared at me. She looked ready to cry. And I didn't want that. I smiled through all the warring grief in my chest.

In two long strides, Bella was there, crushing her body against my torso and gripping my chest as tight as she could. I couldn't even shudder against the cold touch..The smell was completely intoxicating, so strong now. I pressed my lips into her hair and inhaled. The scent sent a thrill of shock through my body as well as a dull ache of gloom in my heart.

"Jacob...How?" Her voice came out in a chime, but I could hear the question and the sadness. She still sounded like she wanted to cry.

"I'm sorry, Bells," I told her softly, soothingly rubbing her back with my hand. I knew my touch would no longer be burning hot to her, but it wasn't like she needed a space heater anyway. She sighed in contentment of the movement.

" I knew...I knew it wasn't true...Deep down...I think I always knew," She whispered. I could picture her eyes being closed. When I didn't answer, she tightened her hold on me and placed her chin on my chest so that she could look up at me. I gazed back at her through the brown dim. She frowned at the sunglasses and freed her left hand so that she could pull them off.

"Wait,"I pleaded, and she froze, looking frustrated at not being able to see my eyes. I could see her own, but the dimness prevented me from seeng what color they were. I noticed her lips became a little bit more full then what they already were. I had a sudden urge to touch them, feel the softness they surely had with my own touch.

"I can't stay long," I whispered. Her eyes widened. She was searching for my eyes...Her hand rested on my chest then slowly traced up my neck to my face where I felt it cool from her touch. She slowly grabbed the rim of the sunglasses with her pointer finger and thumb and pulled them off.

I heard her gasp as the sunglasses fell to the cement next to us. She placed the free hand on my chest and her crimson eyes were full of pity and remorse. I could see my reflection in her big red eyes. My own eyes, a similar shade of the same color. Blood splattered spider-leg patterns running rampant up my eyebrows, the top of my nose and lowering to the end of my cheekbones. She pulled my body tighter against her and rested her cheek on top of the hand.

" Jacob, what happened?" She asked, plea dead on in her voice. I blinked and gripped her hard. I didn't answer again. " Please...Tell me? Please?"

"A lot happened...Bella. I can't explain it all. It won't matter, come tomorrow."

"Are you leaving?" She sounded desperate, not quite keeping the break out of her voice. It made me feel...like a monster. That leaving her caused her pain.

" Yeah...I have too," I said.

"Why? Where will you go?" She asked, pulling back to look at me. She finally stopped holding onto my chest so that she could see me fully. The scratches on my body had her worried, I could feel the tension emanting from her body.

"It won't matter," I repeated, using all of my effort to look away from her, into the flourescent light of the restaurant.

She followed my gaze. " Jacob...Just one night...Just one dance...Please...I've lived with thinking you were dead for over a month...let me hold you...I want to be able too, for the time I have."

" Dance...Is Bella quite the tango dancer now?" I raised my eyebrow, despite being able to picture it quite easily on this new Bella...I'm pretty sure we were both pretty sucky dancers in our old ways.

She smiled. " You bet your butt I am."

I smiled too, but it may have come out as a painful grimace. She extended her hand towards me and I took it without question. She immediately started to lead me, not towards the restaurant, her feet led us to the west side of it. If the restaurant was north, that is.

She led us around the viney side of the building, where I took a glance at the other restaurant...I hoped no Guard member was lingering behind, but then again I wouldn't put it past someone to have their eyes on me right now, just to make sure I didn't leave or try something stupid like break the phial like I had on the plane.

When we finally turned the corner, I felt a jolt of shock. There was a beautiful rose garden that had its whites lining the granite pathway to a bedroom sized gazeebo lit with glowing white lights that looked like little candles flickering in the distance. I distantly heard music...not exactly stupid classical music...but something more modern...a band was playing some sappy love music that I thought fit the moment perfectly.

Bella laughed at my expression and dropped my hand to sprint up the pathway laid out to the back of the restaurant. I watched her with a half smile while she twirled beautifully once or twice with her arms out in delight. She found me after a moment, feigning a rolling of her eyes to dizziness. Her face split into a wide smile and her teeth glimmered in the light.

I slowly followed her path, stopping to rest my right side against the wooden frame. She leaned against a wooden rail on the opposite side where she continued to smile. The smile that brought back a fresh wave of memories...Like I was her Sun...and now she was my wonderous Moon.

"You're happy, " I said softly.

"You're here," She answered, blinking her eyes once and smiling in satisfaction that I didn't disappear. I stepped up in the gazebo, feeling strangely like the spotlight had been placed on me. It was only Bella's eyes that mattered, if there were any else.

She shrugged off her trenchcoat and I smiled..She was wearing an oyster satin cocktail dress, looking radiant with the many lights illuminating her...The shine cast diamonds off her skin. She steadily stepped towards me, arms extended. I wondered vaguely whether she wanted to hug or prepare to dance. I wanted to see her mad tango skills anyway.

"I'm so not dressed for this," I said when I came close enough for touching. I placed one hand on the the right side of her petite waist. While her fingers met mine and squeezed tightly. She placed her own free hand on my chest and we slowly began to sway...just like before. I chuckled.

She pursed her lips in a small pout then she started stepping with me in a slow circle. Perfect synchronization. It wasn't a tango...It was better.

"Are you happy, Jacob?" She stressed the you part as she searched my eyes. I kept my face blank, but it was hard to hide emotions when your eyes looked like mine. She mirrored the agony in my eyes. " Jake?"

"Don't worry about me, Bells...You're happy. I'm happy," I assured her.

She looked skeptical, the concern not leaving her face. " But...you're in pain."

I felt my heartbeat flutter with the sound of her sadness. But there was no denying the truth. She should have known how hard it was for me to lie to her...that's why when I felt it safe to do so, I told the truth. I gulped down the lump in my throat. " Always."

"It's my fault, isn't it?" No one could mistake the guilt in her tone or on her face.

"No," I stated calmly. " I will never blame you for how stupid I've been."

She thought of that for a second. I watched her in thought...How could I ever have imagined disliking her becoming a vampire? I almost blessed the improvements it made on her physical beauty. True, there was nothing like the blushes I was used to, but this new, older face didn't look like it would blush much anyway. She looked older...defined. More mature...even though she already was enough of that.

" Why did you leave us, Jacob? What happened?" She asked me quietly as we did another twirl. I released her waist and stepped away while she spun around in my arm and came back into the cradle of my arms, closer then she was before. We stopped dancing for a second while I wrapped my arms tight around her body and she kept her palms on my chest.

" I didn't leave by choice," I whispered, placing my head on her shoulder so that my mouth was next to her ear. " but I guess Edward's kept a few things from you...before a month ago was a hard time for me."

" Where did you go?" She asked.

" A place I don't think I'll be going back too," I answered, keeping my face blank. " It doesn't matter."

"Will you stop saying that?" She demanded as she broke my grip around her with ease but didn't release me. She made our hands resume the dancing position. " You said you were leaving...Where else would you go if not where you've been?"

"I'd just disappear, Bella. You wouldn't see me, so what would it matter where I went?" I countered, hating how hurtful I was sounding. Her face reflected that.

"Because I'd want to follow. I'd want to see you again," She told me in a fierce voice.

"You wouldn't want to go where I'm going, Bella. I don't think anyone does. It's surprising me how much Edward's kept from you. How exactly do you think I died, Bella?" I asked, curious of how she was lied too by the bloodsucker.

She flinched at the word and tried to keep her voice even. " I don't know at all...You...They didn't let me go to the funeral...I know you bled to death...That's what...what Charlie said over the phone."

I looked at her with a small...wry smile. I wondered how much Charlie knew and if he had an opinion on her new state, but we had to stay on subject" How did I get to be bleeding to death, Bella? Did Edward tell you that?"

She looked into my eyes calmly and shook her head.

I sighed. "You're better off not knowing anyway."

"Are you afraid to scare me?" She asked.

"I'm afraid you'll cry," I said honestly. " and you will."

"I can't shed any more tears, Jake, if you want to protect your conscience," She told me with a sad smile.

"I doubt that...Nothing's impossible," I replied, looking over her head to the restaurant absently while we continued to twirl in a slow manner to a new song.

" I won't cry, Jacob...If I could, there'd be a lot of tears right now," She sounded regretful.

I looked back down at her to see the intensity of her curiosity and her doubt in her face. She wanted to know, but at the same time, knowing would have her relive all the pain I had gone through and I was not about to spoil this night with that. This was my last night on Earth...and I wasn't going to spend it explaining how it came to be that way.

No regrets.

I lightly brought my hand up and brushed my finger across her cheek. A wild flame touched my eyes that she gasped at. I didn't know whether it was the flame in my eye or the sudden jolt of an oval sucking the vampire venom from her face for me. I felt her skin warm, soften, and begin to tan just a little. Instantly, her face blushed scarlet and her eyes filled with water that began to stream down her face. I saw a flicker of the chocolate brown in her eyes that I had grown so used too.

And like a light rubber band springing back into place, I felt the oval disappear and the venom spread back to her face. Her face paled again and became hard. The drying trail of her tears going down her neck continued and her face creased with the misery.

" What did you do?" Her voice was thick. " I felt...human..."

" Did I hurt you?" I asked, worried.

"No...It felt..a little hot...like all the fire that you used to have on the outside was inside of me," Bella said, shuddering a little. " I felt...like I was when I was with you...It was like I was just seeing you...and not everything else with you."

"I'm glad I didn't hurt you," I said with a small smile. That was wrong of me...but I wanted her to feel the human I knew to be inside her. Not for me. I wasn't so selfish...it meant something to me...maybe a ghost part of me was believing that the human Bella was partially mine.

"But what did you do?" She pressed.

"Exactly what you think I did," I answered in a final tone. I unleashed the full force of my eyes on her, and she knew I wasn't going to elaborate on it.

"Will you stay, Jacob?" She asked quietly, pressing her cold cheek against my chest again. It was just a sway from side to side as a dance now.

"I can't, Bella," I said, wishing with all my might that it wasn't true and that I could stay as long as I wanted. " There's something I have to do tomorrow."

"Like what?" She asked, pressingly. I expected her to look at me and demand the answer, but she was okay with just staying on my chest, probably knowing I wouldn't give her an honest answer.

"Errands," I responded. She laughed quietly and I joined her.

We were silent for the longest moment. She would let out a sigh of calm every now and then and I would just hold her that much closer, remembering this scent...remembering the sound of her breath...

"So how's the killer spawn?" I asked as light as I could. She curled one hand on my chest into a fist and pounded me. "Ow...Just asking."

" Renesmee is fine, Jacob," She said coldly.

"That name is a mouthful,'' I noted. " Might as well call her the Loch Ness Monster or something."

I expected Bella to take offense to this, but she was taking it light. She was always quick to forgive, even as a vampire. " If only you could see her, Jacob. She'd love you. You'd be her Uncle Jake...She'd like that."

Like I was Bella's brother.

" Hmm...I doubt it would be a good idea if I ever met your Renesmee, Bella," I said, keeping my voice raw. She did look up at this just to check my expression and see if I had gotten hostile. I hadn't. She placed her head on my chest.

My voice had convinced her. " Yes...I suppose you're right about that, then."

"Come tomorrow, it won't matter," I assured her.

"Because you'll be leaving?" She asked.

Because the spawn and your family will be dead. I winced and she jumped a the movement. Her eyes flickered over mine and she read the panic there.

"It'll be better with me gone too, I guess," I surmised. " but after what's coming tomorrow..."

She looked alarmed at this statement. " What's coming tomorrow? What do you know?"

Ah, so she did know about the Volturi...that upset me. I laughed internally at wishing she was oblivious so I could tell her to run away and have the chance of her getting away from the family before the Coven swooped in.

That meant that the Cullens were fighting.

" I think I'm your enemy on more then one front, Bella," I whispered quietly. She broke away from me, stepping backwards.

" What?" She snapped. " Jake...What're you talking about?"

" I was infected with vampire venom, Bella. The Volturi...," She flinched at the sound of me of all people using the name. " managed to give me something to stop it from killing me. Whatever they gave me, made me compatible with the venom in certain places. You just saw what I did to you. It's ten times worse then that on others."

There was no point in lying.

"But...there was no point in trying to get away. Caius had a plan from the beginning...Listen for a moment...," I took her hands, and she consented to the touch, her mouth still open in horror, but when I touched her, she closed her lips and took a deep breath. I placed her hands over my heart and let her listen.

She could feel the uneven thumping after a minute. While we were talking, I knew it sounded normal, but now the friction between my ribs was painfully obvious in the silence. She looked into my eyes, pity lining every corner of her face.

"What happened?" She asked.

" There's a price for what we want most, Bella. Always," I told her. " Venom may not hurt me in certain areas...but my heart is still human...and the blood surrounding it is still the Quileute blood...I may not be able to phase anymore...but that blood is there and the blood is sensitive to vampire venom...and there's about a finger long flask of it right infront of my heart."

She gasped and I heard a moan in her throat. " No Jake...," She gasped. She freed her hands and grabbed by chest, sobbing tearless cries into my body. I held her close and chuckled a little which wasn't something she liked. " This isn't funny Jake...It's okay...I'll take you to Carlisle...We'll take it out of you."

"There's a tiny explosive on it, Bells. They got me wrapped up in their game," I answered her softly.

"No," She gasped again, burying her face into me.

"That never bothered me, Bella. They were putting you on the line too. I couldn't have that," I said in fierce voice. " Come tomorrow, it won't matter."

" I don't want you to die," She cried, looking up to see my face again.

I smiled softly, taking her face in my hands. " and that's the most beautiful gift you could give me."

I inched closer and another breath caught in her throat. I shook my head, hating that she was crying...and without so much as a second to think of it, I pressed my lips against hers. There was more of Bella then I was ever used too, but that didn't bother me. Her cold hands traced up my neck and to my hair where I knew she was pulling me closer against her. I savored the sweet flavor on my tongue. She was as hard as stone, but that didn't bother me...Nothing bothered me...I loved her too much to care...I would always love her, no matter what choice she made, even if that choice was not me.

"I love you," I said. And the sound of these words sent pain throughout my body. It hurt to say...because I was undeserving of any love she had for me. I was a monster now...and I didn't deserve to love either.

"I love you, Jake," She breathed, kissing my neck and pinning me against her.

"I still know which stars are ours," I whispered. She let out another sob that made me cringe...No regrets.

"Promise me something," I said after a minute of silence.

"Yes?"

I reached into my pocket and drew it out, the small black detonator. Mine. It looked smaller somehow, more insignificant then it already was. I pulled away from Bella and kept her hands. I opened her palm and placed the detonator there. She didn't look at it, because I closed her fingers over it before she could.

"If I tell you too...Promise me you'll press the red button at the top,"

"Jake...I...I..," She began, sounding shocked, unable to find the right words for that.

"Tomorrow...if I tell you to press it...please, Bella...promise me you'll do it. I don't want to die any way else...I don't want to hurt anyone else," I pleaded with her and my own eyes began to water. She took my face in her hands and I felt one finger curl around the detonator to stop her from dropping it.

"I can't,"

"You have to, Bella. You have to be strong. If you do it, know that it was the right thing to do...because if you don't...," I struggled to find the right words for it. " a lot more people are going to get hurt. I'm not a safe person, Bella. Not anymore.."

"Jake I-"

"I'll never forgive you if you don't...I'll never stop...I'll keep hunting them until you do," Hostility rang out of me and subconsciously, my grip around her tightened but she didn't flinch away from this. She knew I meant what I said.

"I...I...promise," There was still doubt in her eyes.

I smiled, despite myself and kissed her forehead. " Thank you."

"I've only hurt you, Jake. Don't be thankful," said Bella icily.

"I don't blame you for a thing...Remember that. Know that. I don't regret anything. I wouldn't take it back for the world...but I also know that all the tears in the universe couldn't wipe my hands clean of the blood, Bella..."

"Jake please...There can be another way...,"

"Caius has the other leash, Bella. There is no other way,"

"Don't tell me this is the last time, Jake,"

I didn't answer.

"Jake," She said firmly, looking at my face. " Don't tell me...this is the last time."

"It's the last time, Bella," I muttered. She sobbed again, but this time, her sound was constricted with the sudden beating of my heart. The calling card. I cringed and grabbed my shirt, spinning away from her and grabbing the ledge so I could calm it down.

The phone in my pocket started vibrating urgently, but my heart still hadn't quelled.

"Jacob!" Bella screamed behind me, her hands on the back of my arms. I moaned and tried to keep from screaming out.

"I have to...go," I groaned, pushing her away. I heard her say no, but my anguished cry of pain overwhelmed that. I couldn't be around her if I had no control over myself. My Drain Touch would break through all the walls I had built to contain it.

"Jake-no-!" I heard her cry.

But I was gone, long gone...I could face Bella Cullen no longer...She was the last person that kept me here, the only face that made me open my eyes everyday.

That had to stop.

I was running, my speed causing everything to be a blur, though nothing took Bella's face out of my mind....Running....past the lush green into the dirty gray cement of the parking lot, scrambling into my jeep where I sought my last refuge.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: It's with great regret that I admit that the last chapter of Rising Tide was deleted. It was actually my fault, because I thought I had it on backup, but it turned out I did not. I was merely trying to correct something small in the story, and ended up deleting the chapter.**

**For those of you that happened to read Chapter 12, you know what happened and how it ended. **

**For those of you coming here from Chapter 11 and wondering where everything is?**

**Well, I'll have to summarize for you until I kick up the muse to write for this again. It takes time to get into the characters for me, and even though I am currently writing Part II of Rising Tide, it's not the same mind frame.**

**The summary is basically this.**

**-Jacob continues with the Volturi.**

**-The Cullens and the Witnesses brought for Renesmee prepare to battle the Volturi.**

**-The Volturi do begin their battle with the Cullens, with Jacob in the front line on the Volturi's side.**

**-He eventually gets pulled back by Caius who says he'll explode the capsule of vampire venom near Jacob's heart and kill him.**

**-Jacob makes his way to the front line and holds off the Volturi with his Venom Drain ability. He says his last words to Bella and Edward, which involve calling Edward a villain.**

**-The capsule is exploded and Jacob's heart is torn to pieces and he dies instantly.**

**The last words to Rising Tide were from Bella's perspective.**

"_**It was in the winter of my nineteenth year that Jacob Black died. His destiny faltered in the light and I lived to see him die in the dark."-**_**Bella Swan.**

**Part II begins with Leah Clearwater approaching Jacob's body with a capsule full of the substance that brought him back previously. I had called it Devil Gene back then. But Part II will probably elaborate on that. It's got a few names like "Dark Element" or "Midnight Shade." I'll elaborate on it all eventually.**

**Please understand that I did not initially want to write Part II. I would have left this story as is. However, I think I could have explored into a different world with Twilight where there is more. **

**Part II is an exploration of Jacob's darker side and how he copes with two conflicting sides of himself-Light and Dark. I thank any one for their support and hope that you enjoy Part II as much as I enjoy writing it. **


End file.
